The Snow Angel and Her Knight
by Serfius
Summary: As the new White Fang's first act of retaliation, they have kidnapped 12 year old Weiss Schnee. She is taken deep into Grimm infested forests where they come across a young blonde boy with dreams of heroism and a strong sense of justice. Weiss/Jaune
1. Rebirth of the White Fang

**Well, I might not have as much information about the RWBY universe as I'd like, but I can't wait any more. I want to make a full length RWBY fic, and we probably won't be getting any new episodes for like another year, so here I am. This is what I've come up with, and I hope you like it. Be aware though, because so little has been revealed about the RWBY universe, this fic is far less fleshed out then the other fics I have going, and therefore updates will probably be far more unpredictable.**

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. I am writing this purely to see reader reaction and for fun. I make no financial profit doing this.

Chapter 1 – Rebirth of the White Fang

"Keep moving girl! Don't make this any harder on yourself." A hard angry voice growled out quietly. The owner of said voice was a tall man, around six and a half feet tall with pitch black hair, amber eyes, and pale skin. On the top of his head were a pair of cat ears, identifying him as a Faunus. His arms were thick with muscle and he gripped a large axe in his right hand. The blade was single edged, the other side being a large hammerhead, mounted on a three foot long ebony shaft tipped with a spearhead. Pretty much a single handed halberd combined with a maul really.

He wore simple clothing, more suited to heavy labor than anything else. A patchwork set of overalls, some sturdy looking brown boots, and a black sleeveless shirt that had a pin with the White Fang's emblem on the chest, though it looked different from what Weiss knew it was supposed to be. Instead of a white wolf's head on a blue background, it was a white wolf's head with three red slashed over it, like an animal's claws. His left hand was tightly gripping a small girl by the arm, dragging her behind him through a dark forest and making sure she stayed close to him at all times.

To twelve year old Weiss Schnee, he was an angry, unstoppable giant. Her once pristine dress was now torn and dirty, her feet were sore, and she couldn't even open her left eye due to a painful gash she'd received the previous day with only a rough cloth tied over it as treatment. She did her best to swallow her terrified and pained whimpers and valiantly fought the onslaught of tears that gathered, but some inevitably escaped, burning in her injury.

She was terrified, starving, exhausted, and freezing in the midwinter cold, but she received no sympathy from her captor as she stumbled over stray roots and through thick bushes. There was no way for her to know what their exact location was, but it was definitely deep into the woods well outside of the city. She'd lost sight of anything indicating civilization long ago. No roads, no lights, not even a beaten path. At that point she'd stopped struggling.

Though she was scared she was managing to keep her wits about her. Weiss knew very well that she had no chance of survival alone, in a Grimm infested forest. There'd already been several times where they'd barely dodged around groups of Boarbatusk, and the man had been forced to cut down a stray Beowolf before he'd doubled their pace to avoid any of its pack coming to investigate.

And on top of all of these problems, Weiss had to worry about whether her father had even managed to survive the events of her abduction. She kept telling herself that he had, and that there was already a search underway for her, but things had been awfully bad the previous day.

* * *

***The Previous Day***

Weiss held in a sigh of boredom. Once again, her father had dragged her out to the stuffy home of one of his business partners to discuss something that she could barely follow. This was a regular occurrence for the last few years that was supposed to help prepare her to inherit the Schnee Dust Company in the future. Fidgeting wasn't suitable for a Schnee, so she sat there, in straight backed silence.

At least this time, they were meeting with Percy Summers. He was largely in charge of shipping the SDC's products across seas, and he happened to be one of the few family friends that Weiss liked at all. Among the dozens of people Weiss' parents constantly had to make nice with, there were only a handful that seemed at all genuine in their friendliness. And Uncle Percy was one of them.

Looking up at the clock, she judged that the meeting would probably go on for another ten minutes before she could do something fun.

Movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention back to the conversation. Percy had leaned closer to her father and was talking in a lower voice. Curiosity compelled her to lean closer as well. It wasn't really eavesdropping after all, this was the whole reason her father made her sit in on these things. So she could listen and learn.

"The transports are all on schedule for the moment, but I've been noticing a worrying increase in agitation among the Faunus employee's. There's been a lot of talk going around about the White Fang doing something drastic."

Albert, Weiss's father, grunted in annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose. "They just don't understand the situation. Have you heard anything specific?"

Before Percy could answer, there was a loud crashing noise as the windows exploded inwards, showering the rooms occupants in broken glass and pulling a startled yelp from Weiss. Moments later there was a series of snaps, immediately followed by a hissing noise as white smoke filled the room.

The smoke quickly reduced the three to fits of coughing as loud yells could be heard just outside the now broken windows. Looking up through teary eyes Weiss could see dozens of Faunus pouring into the room just as the households security forces crashed through the doors.

"Weiss! Where are you!?" She could barely hear her father over the cacophony

"Daddy! I can't see! What's happening!?" Weiss stumbled blindly through the smoke before bumping into someone, losing her balance and landing on her butt. Her loss of balance probably saved her life as whoever she'd discovered rapidly spun around, their arm rising in a slash. The blade of their axe swung just in front of her, the spearhead above it carving a deep gash over her left eyelid.

Despite the size and the fact that it was being wielded with one arm, the weapon was flying quickly and smoothly, decapitating one of Percy's security personnel and crushing the skull of another with the hammer on its other side, before the Faunus paused, looking down at her.

For a few long seconds Weiss stared up at the man in muted fear. The only thing she could see was the blood spotted skin and the burning amber eyes. If Weiss were thinking clearly, she may have noticed what could have been a flicker of regret and guilt in those eyes before they'd hardened. Then the excruciating pain settled in over her eye and everything became a pain filled haze as she was roughly grabbed and hauled away from her family.

The last thing Albert Schnee heard from his daughter were her cries of terror and pain.

* * *

***Present Day***

Since then Weiss had been dragged far away from the city, deep into the snowy woods. The man hadn't even stopped to sleep. She'd given up trying to figure out what he wanted. The only thing he'd tell her was to keep moving and stop talking.

Eventually they came to a clearing where a trio of Faunus were waiting for them. They were wearing some sort of haphazard uniform, black pants, a white vest with a painted on White Fang symbol over a black shirt, black hood and a crude mask that covered just the upper half of the face. They also carried mining picks that bore the SDC's logo.

"There you are Badrick. I was starting to get worried you'd gotten lost. Good job with the capture."

"It wasn't difficult. We managed to catch the humans by complete surprise and the girl dropped right into my hands within minutes of the start." The now identified Badrick said, pushing Weiss towards the White Fang members who quickly bound her hands behind her with a length of coarse rope.

"P-P-Please, l-l-let me go." She whimpered out, sniffling loudly. She abandoned all pretenses of bravery right there, descending into loud sobs. "W-what do you want from me!?"

"Quiet girl!" One of them hissed at her. "These woods are full of dangerous creatures that would love to have you for a snack. You'll be coming with us until your father finally gives the Faunus under his employ fair and equal treatment. We tried things the nice way, but that didn't work out for us. So now we're doing it this way."

* * *

Jaune Arc carefully navigated his way around the trees and bushes. The sun was beginning to set and he knew his parents would be getting worried by now. They always warned him about how dangerous the woods around the town were and that he should never go out into them when it got dark. Oakfield, the town, itself was safe due to the garrison of soldiers they had, and a pair of resident Hunters, one his father Jack Arc, the other his last surviving teammate Elmont Scorpius. But the woods surrounding the town were still full of Grimm. The majority had been cleared out in a radius of a couple miles around Oakfield, but it was impossible to wipe them out completely.

There was a sling of hare's over his shoulder, the bounty he'd found in some of the snares that had been set up around the town and he had a few pouches full of plants and herbs he'd been asked to collect. The town was still in the middle of being constructed, so he thought he'd help out and earn some pocket money at the same time by foraging whatever he could near the village. The road connecting to the highway wasn't even in working order, the snows and some Grimm having damaged it to the point it wasn't safe to travel. They'd have to wait for the snow to melt before it could be fixed.

Jaune pulled another rabbit from a trap, tying it to the sling with the other four he'd gathered, and reset the snare. There'd been a good haul this week. Glancing up Jaune noted the position of the sun. It was nearly to the horizon already, so he'd have to really hurry if he wanted to get back to Oakfield before dark.

Double checking the sling and the herb packs, Jaune started jogging back home, easily navigating the familiar terrain as it began to darken.

A few minutes into his trip he began hearing voices nearby. That was odd. No one was supposed to be outside of Town unless it was necessary. He supposed they could've gotten worried about how long it was taking him to get back and sent someone to look, but he didn't recognize any of the voices. Whatever the case, it piqued Jaune's curiosity and he crept closer to the voices, being careful not to make any noise.

Of course he was not prepared for what he found. A tied up, very pale, one eyed girl in tattered clothes, and in very clear distress, a giant of a man with cat ears and a scary looking axe, and a trio of cult looking people carrying pickaxes.

"What the heck?..." Jaune whispered to himself, leaning further around the tree for a better look. "Is that…blood?" Indeed, the brown cloth around the girls left eye seemed to be stained in the substance. She was crying as well, though she quieted slightly when one of the adults growled something out at her.

Well Jaune had seen enough. Whoever these guys were, they were clearly the bad guys in this scenario. Unfortunately, Jaune knew he didn't have time to go back to town and get help. It'd take him at least half an hour to make the round trip at full speed, and that was with daylight on his side. Who knows where they'd have gotten to in the mean time?

Jaune puffed up a little. There was no other option. It was up to him to save the girl. Unfortunately, the only thing Jaune had with him was a small pocketknife. Definitely not something that could stand up to the Cat Faunus's axe.

Well, maybe he could just follow them, wait for them to fall asleep, sneak in and get the girl out. Like a _ninja!_ Jaune grinned, as he came up with his plan. It was perfect! There was no way they'd see him coming. These woods were practically his backyard and it'd be dark soon. The men would have to set up camp soon, and that's when he'd strike. Jaune could practically taste the triumph.

So, as sneakily as he could, Jaune followed the kidnappers, stepping as lightly as he could. He'd have to be careful about the snow on the ground. The crunching of it underfoot could quickly ruin his whole plan, not to mention any fragile sticks they might be concealing.

It didn't take long for them to stop, building a small fire and securing the girl to one of the trees. She collapsed like a puppet with her strings cut, slumping in exhaustion.

Jaune hoped his parents weren't too worried about him. He was out well past his curfew, and in the forest no less. But he had always been taught that he should do his best to do the right thing at all times. And what could be more right than rescuing someone from kidnappers?

When it seemed like the men had let down their guard, Jaune crept up around the camp until he was behind the captured girl. Careful not to draw any attention to himself, he crept his way towards the girl, basically crawling. Every inch closer he lost some of his confidence. What was he thinking!? There were four full grown men here, armed with axes and picks. He was a twelve year old boy with a pocket knife. What kind of difference could he possibly make here?!

Blood pounding in his ears, Jaune managed to finally creep up behind the miserable looking girl and quickly began sawing at the rope, the small edge making slow but steady progress.

* * *

Weiss sat slumped at the base of large oak tree, grateful for the opportunity to rest. Her body throbbed with ache, especially her legs and eye. The harsh pace and denial of any real rest, food or water was taking its toll on her, as cramps threatened to overtake her legs and her stomach growled in displeasure.

As the only child in a very rich family, there had never been a time that she'd had to go so long without food. It'd been over a day since she'd last eaten, and she was feeling very light headed. And being the pampered girl she knew she was, she wasn't used to such physical exertion.

The three Faunus they'd met up with were hovering around the small fire, made just large enough to illuminate the area, but too small to provide any real warmth. The man who'd taken her, Badrick, had disappeared somewhere. Weiss briefly wondered where he'd gotten to before deciding that she really didn't care. It wouldn't make any difference.

An insistent tugging on her hands drew her attention. Looking over her shoulder, she jerked in surprise. There was a blonde boy who looked to be her age lying behind her, sawing at the ropes holding her with a small pocketknife. He looked incredibly nervous, terrified even, but he kept at it determinedly.

Quickly looking back at the Faunus tending the fire, Weiss began to feel a little bit hopeful. They seemed to be completely oblivious to the blonde's presence. Maybe this boy would be able to get her out of there before Badrick returned from wherever he'd gotten to and she could finally go home!

She jerked her head back to boy, finding that his knife was nearly through the rope. Her heart was pounding. Just a little bit more!

Suddenly, there a loud thump as a familiar axe buried itself into the ground, right next to the boys head, making him freeze and pale considerably.

"So you're the one that's been following us around for the last while. Just what do you think you're doing boy?" Badrick pulled his weapon from the ground, hooking the spearhead under Jaune's jaw and slowly pushing him to his feet. "Who are you?"

Jaune gulped, his head tilted up by the sharp blade as he was backed up into the tree. "H-how did you find me? It's so dark."

"Fun fact about Faunus. Most of us have nearly perfect night vision. And these ears aren't just for show." They twitched for emphasis. "Now who are you?" He growled out, pressing his weapon closer, drawing a bead of blood.

"M-my name is Jaune Arc, and I don't have anything to say to kidnappers like you!" Jaune cursed the tremor in his voice. Hero's weren't supposed to stutter in the face of danger! His father never would've done something so embarrassing.

"Hey! Watch your mouth kid! A country bumpkin like you wouldn't understand anything about us!" One of the cultists shouted, moving forward menacingly.

Jaune's sense of justice overrode his sense of self preservation. "I don't have to understand you! Kidnapping is _always_ wrong!"

Weiss noticed that everyone was currently paying attention to Jaune and managed to move her fingers to grasp the handle of the pocket knife that was still stuck in the ropes. Carefully she kept sawing through it, though the awkward movement made her fingers ache, and she nicked her delicate skin more than once.

Another cultist spoke up. "Badrick, what should we do? There's supposed to be a still developing town nearby, and if they come looking for the boy we could be in trouble."

Badrick grunted in annoyance. "We don't have much of a choice. If we let him go he'll tell the authorities about us. We don't have the resources to maintain a lot of dead weight, so we can't bring him with us. We'll have to kill him and hope the Grimm find his body before anyone from Oakfield does."

"What? Badrick, are you serious? I mean, yea I get it, but…he's just a kid." The first cult member said, holding his pick to his chest uncomfortably.

"We don't have a choice! It's either this, or the White Fang and every Faunus in the world pays for it!"

Badrick drew back his axe, getting ready to cleave Jaune in two. Jaune could only stare up at the man, shaking in fear, eyes locked on the gleaming edge of the axe.

Weiss frantically sawed at the rope, straining her arms against her bonds, hoping they'd snap. Just as Badrick was swinging the axe forward, the ropes gave out and without thinking and a desperate cry, Weiss was jumping at the boy who'd tried to save her. "No!" She crashed into him, her momentum carrying the both of them to the ground as the Axe was lodged deep into the Oak where Jaune's head had been.

Badrick growled loudly, wrenching his weapon from the wood. "Just let me do this quickly so you won't have to suffer boy. I do not enjoy this, but I do this for my people." His eyes were hard as he glared down at the two kids, gesturing for his partners to grab Weiss.

"No! Please, just leave us alone!" Weiss clumsily swiped the pocket knife above her, managing to nick one of their fingers.

"Argh! That stung you stuck up little bitch!" The cultist reared back, preparing to back hand the white haired girl.

Jaune quickly rolled his body, placing him between Weiss and the White Fang members, the attack smacking into his shoulder, doing no real harm. Before he could reorient himself though, he was grabbed by one of the other uniformed men, and pulled away from Weiss, kicking and struggling.

Just as the other Faunus was reaching to grab Weiss, a black and silver blur entered the clearing, ramming into the man and knocking him on his back several yards away. At the same time, a brown and yellow blur attacked the man restraining Jaune, breaking his arm and throwing him into a tree.

Jaune glanced around wildly, stumbling at the sudden lack of support, before his eyes locked on his savior. "Dad! You're here!" Relief flooded through his whole body, shaking with adrenalin.

"Jaune, take the girl and get back to town! Let us handle these four." His father took up a fighting stance, a large heater shield with the family crest on it held in front, covering everything from his groin to his nose as blue eyes glared over the top, the tips of his blonde hair bobbing lightly just over his brow. In his right hand was a simple, but reliable longsword, held beside his shield, ready to stab forward. He wore sturdy brown boots with white plating over the top, brown hunting pants secured by a belt with several utility pouches, a long sleeved brown shirt under a white chest plate with a brown leather vest over that, and a pair of brown fingerless gloves and white armored knee, elbow, and shoulder pads. Jaune's father was a powerful looking man, standing at just over six feet and with well built muscles from years of fighting off Grimm.

Another man stepped up next to his father. He had short brown hair, blue eyes, and wore a full suit of black light plate mail with silver colored studs. The armor was customized at the joints sacrificing protection for flexibility. He was slimmer and just a little shorter than the first man, with a build more suited to speed and flexibility. In his gloved hands he held a pair of sabers, and a pair of daggers were lashed to his waist next to the empty saber sheathes. This was Elmont, his father's oldest friend and Jaune's uncle in everything but blood.

"Not to worry Jaune, these four won't be much trouble." He gave his sabers a flourish and brought them to bear, both held forward at his sides at waist height, tips pointed forward. "But the young lady there needs medical attention." Elmont said, keeping his eyes on the three Faunus, who formed up in front of them.

"Right! Kick their butts!" Jaune hurried to grab Weiss, hauling her out of the campsite and towards town.

* * *

Jaune guided Weiss through the forest quickly and easily, having navigated these paths many times. "So, I'm Jaune Arc. What's your name?" He asked between pants, pulling Weiss along by the hand. He kept them at a brisk walking pace, not wanting her to trip over a stray root, but also wanting to put as much distance between them and the fight as possible.

"W-Weiss. Weiss Schnee." She looked at their joined hands, telling herself that the heat she felt in her cheeks was just because of all the running. "Where are we going? I mean, what's the name of this place?"

"Oakfield. It's a relatively new town, still being established really. We're waaaaaay out in the Elderwood Forests. Well, that's what I'm told anyways, never left before. Actually," Jaune rubbed at the back of his head with a nervous grin. "You're the first person I've met outside of Oakfield. It's pretty isolated. We should be getting there in about ten minutes at this pace."

Before Weiss could say anything else, they were interrupted by the loud growling of her stomach, making her flush in embarrassment.

Jaune jumped, startled by the noise. "What was that? There shouldn't be any Grimm this close to the town." Weiss flushed deeper.

"That was me. I haven't had anything to eat since before all of this started yesterday." She admitted, annoyed with her body's embarrassing noises. Just another blow to her already battered dignity.

"Oooooh. Well I'm sure we'll be able to get you some food soon. Just hang in there a bit longer." He smiled encouragingly at her, making her look down shyly before Jaune was again tugging her along. Sure enough, they were soon able to see the lights of the town, doing wonders for Weiss's flagging spirits.

* * *

"And just who are you two?" Badrick tightened his hold on his axe, holding it up in front of him defensively as the other White Fang members formed up on either side of him, one of them cradling their broken arm to their side.

"The name's Jack Arc, and that was my son you were just trying to kill. You're going to regret that."

"Elmont Scorpius. We'll give you one chance to surrender, and I do suggest you take it. Jack just might not be able to restrain himself from killing all of you."

"Arc and Scorpius…I don't suppose that you two are the Arc and Scorpius from the Cleansing of Bone Hills?"

"Maybe. Do you want to find out?" Jack asked, his voice deadly calm, while taking a step forward. The Faunus, with the exception of Badrick all took a timid step back. If these two really were the Heroes of the Bone Hills then they were in way over their heads.

The Bone Hills had been a site of Grimm Infestation for generations. They had been famous for the unnaturally large Grimm that inhabited them. Eventually, their population had grown large enough that they'd begun making incursions into human controlled territories. They were threatening to wipe out several settlements, and the only Hunters close enough to respond had been Jack and Elmont's team. They'd lost two of their members in the process, but they'd successfully pushed the Grimm back to the hills and set the stage for their purging once reinforcements arrived a few days later.

"I don't think there's much of a choice for us." Badrick drew his axe back and charged at Jack, attempting to crush him with the hammer head. Taking that as their signal, his three allies rushed Elmont, awkwardly trying to swing their pickaxes at the Hunter and avoid getting in each others way.

* * *

Jack sidestepped the attack, letting the weapon pass right beside him and swung his sword in an arc towards Badrick's neck. The black haired Faunus shifted his hold into a reverse grip and pulled the shaft of his weapon up to block, but left himself open to the shield punching into his temple and making him stumble away.

Jack was about five inches shorter than his opponent, but he knew very well how to handle foes with a size advantage. Keep a loose stance, never block an attack head on unless you have to, and don't let them grab you. A loose stance would help you dodge and roll with any attacks that landed, creatures larger than you were likely physically stronger than you, so a stiff block could end up hurting you more than helping, and if you were grabbed, it was probably over for you.

Badrick shook his head with a growl, lunging forward with a two handed swipe that threatened to bisect Jack at the waist. Jack jumped in a blur, his armored knee smashing into Badrick's nose, breaking it with a distinct cracking. As he descended, Jack slashed his opponent down the chest, landing in a crouch and finishing his combo with a rising back kick that collided with Badrick's stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs.

"You don't even have your Aura unlocked. You don't stand a chance. Do yourself a favor and surrender. Otherwise, I'll have to kill you."

Badrick wasn't unskilled with his weapon. He held it with a familiar hand, and he had more than enough strength and control to use it in a fight, but it was unrefined and inexperienced. Against a veteran Hunter of Jack's caliber, and without an Aura to shield him, nor access to a semblance, there was just no way for Badrick to stand up to him.

"When did the White Fang become so violent anyways? I thought you were a group of peaceful protesters."

Badrick angrily spat on the ground. "Surrender is not an option! Humans were the ones that led us to this path! The Faunus race _will_ be free! Our children will have what we never could! It has become clear that force is the only way to get what we deserve!" He staggered back to his feet, hands bloodied from chest wound stubbornly gripping the axe. Glancing to the side, he could see that his comrades had already been subdued, covered in lightly bleeding cuts and their makeshift weapons lying in small piles on the ground. The picks had been chopped into no less than four pieces each, even the iron heads were in pieces.

Jack regarded him silently for a moment. "I get it. Things aren't fair for the Faunus. Promises and hopes were broken. But that doesn't give you the right to kidnap an innocent little girl, or kill an equally innocent little boy." He resumed his stance. "Whatever your reasons are, whatever your situation is, I will not stand by and let you harm an innocent."

As the pair were preparing for round two, the howl of a beowolf cut through the air, quickly followed by another, then another, until what sounded like a whole pack were crying out. Before they knew it a pack of beowolves burst from the surrounding forest, charging the humanoids with foam covered fangs and sharp claws.

Jack caught one on his shield and quickly gutted the creature, pushing it off his blade and to the side to prepare for the next.

* * *

Elmont watched the three lackey's as they nervously stood just outside of his reach. The standoff continued until Elmont decided that if they weren't confident enough to make the first move, then he would.

"En garde! Haha!" Taking a step forward, he swung his right saber, arcing it to catch the two on his right. One of them, the man with the broken arm, managed to move his pick to block, astonishingly enough. Unfortunately for them, it was damn near impossible to stop Elmont's attacks with such mundane equipment. His sword carved straight through the mining tool, and sliced across the man's chest. "You need more than that to stand against me lowlifes!"

His swords became a blurred flurry, storming around him at a pace the White Fang members couldn't even hope to keep up with. Their mining picks were reduced to kindling and scrap metal in seconds as Elmont's sabers cut through them without any loss of momentum.

As the blades cut through the air, those present could hear a humming noise from them. Elmont's semblance was a deadly one. It allowed him to extend the reach and cutting ability of whatever he was fighting with, whether it be his swords, his daggers, a stick, or his fists and feet, by manipulating the wind currents around him. His attacks became so sharp and quick that you could hear them cut the air in high pitched humming, somewhat like the sound of an arrow passing right by the ear.

It didn't take long to reduce his opponents uniforms to tatters stained in the blood from numerous light gashes. His fight well and truly finished, Elmont positioned himself so he could keep an eye on his new prisoners and see how his partner was fairing. Just as expected, Jack was having no trouble at all. The Cat Faunus was big, and clearly strong, but they'd faced far _far_ worse. This axe man didn't even rate in their top one hundred most dangerous being's encountered.

The Faunus was clearly preparing for another futile attack when the howls began. Elmont immediately brought his weapons back into readiness, scanning the trees around them. Beowolves didn't usually venture this closet to town, but it did happen occasionally. They'd probably been drawn by the scent of that girls blood. He'd noticed the soiled rag over her eye when he and Jack first arrived, and these kidnappers had probably been hauling her all over the forest. It was just a matter of time until one of the beasts caught the scent.

The beowolves burst through the foliage, charging them all. A pair reached him at the same time, and were quickly cleaved in two as he slashed his swords in front of him like a massive pair of scissors. As the halves were falling to the ground, he stepped forward, impaling one through the stomach before spinning into a back handed slash and lopping off another's head.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jack fighting off his own share of the Grimm as the two Hunters instinctively moved to cover each other's backs.

The next few minutes were a frenzy of beowolf slaughtering, the two men easily and efficiently slaying every wolf in the clearing. By the time they were done and could inspect the area, the White Fang members were gone, having taken advantage of the confusion to escape. Only the remains of the pickaxes and some shredded clothes were left as proof that they had been there.

"Hmph. Those Faunus were lucky the beowolves showed up. They'd be on their way to jail or a morgue by now if they hadn't." Elmont pulled out a rag and wiped the gore from his blades, quickly mimicked by Jack.

"We should get back to town. I wanna check up on Jaune and that girl. She didn't look too well." Jack slid his sword into his shield, collapsing it into a more travel friendly sword sheath form and clipping it to his waist. Walking over to the remains of the picks, he grabbed the only intact pick head. "I know the authorities'll want this." He said, brushing a thumb over the SDC snowflake.

* * *

"Mom!" Jaune called as he burst into his house, pulling Weiss in behind him. "Mom we need help!"

Half a moment later, a brown haired, green eyed woman, in a yellow dress darted into the room with a frantic expression.

"Jaune? What's wrong? Where were you? Why were you out so late?" Jaune's mother fussed over him, looking for injuries.

"What? Hey, mo- quit it!" Jaune flapped his arms, waving away his mother's fussing. "Weiss is the one that's hurt."

The woman glanced behind Jaune, finally noticing the battered and exhausted girl swaying on her feet.

"Oh my goodness! You poor thing! Come with me and I'll fix you right up, don't you worry honey."

Weiss was quickly herded to a very comfortable couch that she collapsed onto. "Wait right here sweetie, I'll go grab my medical kit and be right back."

A few short moments later, in which Jaune clambered onto the couch next to her, Jaune's mother returned with a large hard wood box, which folded open to reveal many compartments full of medical tools.

"My name is Isabelle, I'm Jaune's mother. I'm going to take a look at your eye alright?" Weiss tiredly nodded her consent, barely able to stay awake.

Isabelle carefully peeled the cloth away from Weiss's eye, making the girl whimper a little at the painful pulling. She didn't hesitate to grasp Jaune's hand tightly when he slipped his hand into hers.

Isabelle made a sympathetic noise. "Ooh, poor girl. That must've really hurt when you got it. But don't worry, I'll have you all patched up soon."

"_It's a good thing she got here when she did."_ She thought to herself. _"Much longer and the infection would have really set in. She probably would've lost the eye. But luckily enough, we managed to catch it in time, though she'll have a quite a scar to show for it."_ As quickly and gently as she could, she cleaned and dressed the gash, thanking god that the wound was shallow enough that stitches wouldn't be required. Weiss whimpered louder when the alcohol touched her wound, trying to pull away as Isabelle held her head firmly in place, and tears gathered in her eyes. She gripped Jaune's hand tighter as she weathered the pain. Isabelle estimated that it'd be at least four days until she could remove the bandages.

"There we go, all done honey." Isabelle said, tucking the end of the bandage away. "Now! " She lightly clapped her hands together with a friendly smile. "How does something to eat sound?"

Weiss's mouth was already watering at the mention of food, and she nodded vigorously, making her eye throb with the motion. It seemed like forever since the last time she'd eaten.

Isabelle got Weiss and Jaune settled at the table with a few large bowls of a hearty stew and made sure to take the rabbits and herbs Jaune had collected away for storing. They could be delivered to the butcher and apothecary later.

"Weiss," Isabelle said, looking oddly at the way she was eating. "I don't want you worrying about something as silly as 'eating properly'" She included finger quotes, "after the ordeal you've just gone through. Please, _eat_, for my sake if nothing else." The girl had been taking maddeningly dainty bites. At the rate she was going it would take her all night to finish.

Weiss looked conflicted for a moment, before her eye caught Jaune wolfing his food down like there was no tomorrow, and followed his example in inhaling the meal. She had trouble keeping herself from groaning in pleasure once her teeth sank into their first real bite of the meal. It was by far the best thing she'd ever tasted in her entire life.

By the time Jack and Elmont arrived, Weiss was polishing off her second bowl, mopping up the remaining juices with chunks of bread.

"Whoa, the little missus is looking worlds better than before." Jack said cheerfully, claiming one of the free chairs. "And has a healthy appetite to boot." Weiss blushed, swallowing the last bit of her stew soaked bread. The man radiated cheer and kindness, further setting her at ease.

"Thank you all for saving me. I'm sure my father will reward you greatly for your help."

"D'oooh," Jack batted playfully at the air. "Don't be silly. We didn't do any of this for a reward. But, now that things have calmed down and you've been treated and fed, introductions are in order. My name is Jack Arc, I believe you're familiar with my son and wife, Jaune and Isabel," he nodded towards them in turn, "And this ponce is my teammate and best friend Elmont Scorpius." He slapped a hand down on Elmont's armored shoulder.

"My name is Weiss Schnee." She got up and made a shaky curtsy. "If there is anything the Schnee family can do to repay you, I hope you won't hesitate to ask."

"Do you have a way for us to contact your family? I'm sure they're worried sick about you." Isabelle asked.

"Oh yes, do you have a phone I may borrow?"

"Right this way honey." For the umpteenth time, Weiss found herself blushing in the midst of this family. She wasn't used to such open affection and kindness. Her parents made sure that she got just about everything she wanted, but they were almost always too busy to deal with her directly.

She was shown to an older model of video phone, and she quickly entered a number that she'd been told by her father was for emergencies only. The phone only had time to ring once before it was answered, her father's visage quickly filling the monitor. He looked a little bit unkempt, but he seemed to be unharmed, releasing some tension from her shoulders she hadn't even known had been there.

"Daddy!"

"Weiss, thank good- what happened to your eye?! And who are those people with you?! I swear, if I ever find you people you'll regret it for the rest of-"

"Daddy I'm ok! These people saved me from the White Fang." Weiss interrupted her father, inwardly wincing at the act. Hopefully he wouldn't punish her for it later.

Albert sagged slightly, the fury leaking from his posture. "I'm terribly sorry. Please accept my apologies. Ever since Weiss had been kidnapped, things have been very…trying for me. Please, tell me everything."

Weiss told her father everything she knew, with her rescuers chiming in with their own details. When Jaune had failed to return even half an hour after he was supposed to, Jack and Elmont had gone looking for him. By the time Weiss had finished her portion of the story, she was swaying in her seat, fighting to stay awake. Isabelle quickly excused them from the conversation and carried the exhausted girl to a guest room. She was asleep before they'd even left the office with the phone.

"Mr. Schnee," Jack started, "I know you must be extremely worried for Weiss, but I'd like to offer my home as a refuge for her until you've had a chance to get a hold on what's happening. The men who had Weiss were carrying equipment from the Schnee Dust Company, so we can't be sure just how safe she'd be in the cities, but here in Oakfield there isn't a major SDC presence." He showed him the pick head he'd brought back. Albert frowned, having no trouble seeing the SDC logo. He knew that his goods were shipped all over the world, but he didn't have any Dust mines, refineries, or factories out in Oakfield. It was troubling that Schnee Dust Company property could be so easily stolen from his worksites.

"Excuse my interruption, but Jack is forgetting a few details." Elmont cut in. "It won't be safe for you to retrieve Weiss for at least a few weeks. Oakfield doesn't have an operational airport and the roads are in no condition for travel, which makes it difficult to get the supplies necessary for the repairs in this weather. The men who kidnapped your daughter brought her this far on foot through Grimm infested forestland. I wouldn't recommend a return trip."

"You don't have an airport? How can you not have an airport?" Albert ran a hand through his white hair, making it even messier.

"The airport was damaged by a few severe snow storms. The same storms that have rendered the roads connecting to the highway unsafe. But Weiss will be in safe hands here. Jack and I are veteran Hunters and we have the full support of the Oakfield garrison."

"I am aware of your reputations Mr. Scorpius, but you'll have to forgive a father for worrying." Albert was silent for a few moments as he considered the situation. "Very well. I will allow Weiss to stay with you until such a time as I can retrieve her safely. But I want to be notified immediately upon the completion of repairs to the roads and the airport, as well as a list of what can be done to expedite the process. I will make sure the resources necessary for an expedient repairing are made available."

"Say no more good sir. I have a young daughter myself. I understand the need to protect them from anything and everything very well. We will look after Miss Weiss as if she were our own." Elmont told the distraught father.

"Thank you again for rescuing my daughter. I should go and share the good news with my wife. Good night gentlemen." Albert's image cut off.

* * *

**End Chapter!**

**So…That was a thing. There will probably be one or two more chapters before I do a time skip to the start of the show.**

**Once again, the History Major within me cries out in pain at the severe lack of information. I would really like an accurate and detailed timeline, as well as a map with **_**labels**_**. I don't know about everyone else, but I can't even definitively figure out which continent Vale is on. I'm gonna guess that one in the middle, but as far as I can tell it can be any one of em.**

**I hope you all liked it, and please let me know how I did, I'm kind of nervous about this one. All feedback, constructive criticism, and questions are welcome and appreciated!**


	2. How to Child

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. I am writing this purely to see reader reaction and for fun. I make no financial profit doing this.

Chapter 2 – How to Child

Weiss's lungs were burning, but she didn't dare stop. She didn't know why she was running, but she knew she had to keep going or something horrible would happen. What exactly? Who knew? She didn't question it, that's just what it was.

She tripped over a stray root, stumbling a few steps before regaining her balance. Something was coming, and it was getting closer.

"Get back here girl! You can't hide from me!"

Weiss made the mistake of looking back. She saw a familiar Faunus burst into view, angrily cleaving an entire tree in two to make space. It was that Badrick person, with the same unforgiving, enraged amber eyes. His axe gleamed through the darkness, swiping through the air.

Weiss screamed in fear, and turned to run again. Before she could take another step, she felt him grab her arm in an iron grip, and spin her around to face him.

"You might have gotten away once, but you won't this time." He growled out at her, eyes flashing. "This time, I'll kill you and be done with it." Without ceremony he threw her to the ground and raised his axe overhead. She saw the muscles in his arms bulge, and then the axe was descending straight towards her head.

"AHHHHH!" Weiss shrieked, shooting upright. She looked all around her with a wild eye, heart pounding and gasping for air. Where was she? This wasn't her room. What happened!?

Suddenly the door burst open as Jaune ran into the room with a war cry, brandishing a bat. He made it two steps into the room before he tripped over his own feet, landing belly first on the hardwood floor and slid several feet, coming to a stop at the foot of Weiss's bed. To his credit, this didn't seem to slow him down as he shot back to his feet in only a few seconds, bat ready to swing.

"Where are they!? I'll get them this time!" He spun around in place a few times before determining that the only occupants of the room were him and Weiss.

Weiss stared at the blonde in bewilderment, forgetting the terror she'd been feeling no less than a few seconds ago. As Jaune spun around in his blue footie pajamas, Weiss's lips twitched a few times, before she couldn't help herself and began giggling, soon enough descending into full on laughter as she clutched at the sheets around her.

Outside of the room Jack and Isabelle quietly crept back to their room, smiling in pride for their son. Clearly they'd been doing something right for the boy to so quickly jump to the aid of another. And he seemed to be doing a fine job of calming Weiss, whether he realized it or not.

It took Weiss a few moments to compose herself, wiping away the tears that had gathered. She looked up to find Jaune sulking with a small pout.

"I'm sorry Jaune, you just looked so ridiculous sliding in like that."

"Wasn't _that_ funny." He muttered to himself. "What were you screaming about anyways? I thought more of those kidnappers came for you again."

Weiss's good mood quickly sobered, and she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "It was nothing. Just a dream."

"Just a dream?" Jaune hopped onto the bed, sitting cross legged across from her. "You don't just scream like that for any normal dream."

"Okay, so it was a bad dream…A very bad dream." Weiss tugged at the oversized shirt she was wearing. Mrs. Arc must have given it to her before putting her to bed.

"I know what that's like. I used to have nightmares all the time. Do you know what always cheered me up afterwards?"

Weiss looked at him, silently urging him to continue.

"Ice cream! C'mon, there's some in the freezer." Jaune grabbed her hand and pulled her out of bed, bringing the both of them to the kitchen.

"Wait! What're you doing? We can't eat _ice cream_ now. It's the middle of the night. We're supposed to be in bed and asleep right now." Weiss said, hands on her hips and looking sternly at Jaune. And the mention of food at such an hour reminded her that it had been over a whole day since she'd last brushed her teeth. Totally unbecoming of the Schnee family.

"Pshh, that's silly. You can't go back to sleep just like that after a nightmare. Now what flavor do you want, chocolate or vanilla?" Jaune pushed a chair over to the kitchen counter, using it as a stepping stool to reach the cabinet the bowls were in, then repeated the process with the freezer.

"What do you think you're doing? We're only kids, we're not supposed to mess with the food. Only adults get to do that." Weiss's heart was pounding again, as she glanced down the hallways to check for Jaune's parents.

Jaune continued on as if he hadn't heard her. "You strike me as a 'vanilla' girl. Same here. Can't go wrong with good old fashioned vanilla." Jaune scooped out a couple of generous helpings before putting the rest back in the freezer. "Here." He handed her one of the bowls, then dug into his own.

Weiss looked down at her own in confliction. Hesitantly, she nibbled on it, gradually growing more comfortable until she was eating in full bites of the delicious frozen treat. Who knew eating ice cream after bed time could be so exhilarating. She'd never have done this back at home, but it was _fun._ What would daddy say if he knew?

"So…" Jaune began hesitantly, looking a little unsure of himself. "Wanna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about. It was just that horrid, filthy Faunus, Badrick." Weiss looked up and away, pushing another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. She shivered lightly, remembering those eyes. What could her family's company ever have done to make them hate them so much?

"Yea, he was scary wasn't he? But we don't have to worry about him anymore! Dad and Uncle Elmont beat all them up, and they'd be crazy to come back. And when I get bigger I'm gonna be a hero just like them!" Jaune swung his spoon around like it was a sword, battling some imaginary foe. "Then I can protect you too!"

Weiss smiled shyly at his enthusiasm. "Thank you, by the way. For rescuing me in the forest." She blushed lightly. "I'm sure you'll be an amazing hero someday."

The pair finished their midnight snack and went back to their beds, this time with Weiss managing to sleep through to the morning.

* * *

The next few days were a whirlwind of new experiences for Weiss, some of which may or may not have threatened to undermine the strict upbringing of the Schnee family.

"I don't understand." Weiss stared down at Jaune. "How can someone have _that_ bad a balance?" She hadn't known Jaune very long, but he seemed to fall down an awful lot. "Especially when you moved through the forests so easily before."

"I didn't fall over! I uh…" Jaune paused, looking around him, clearly searching for an excuse. "I just decided I wanted to make snow angels!"

"What's a snow angel?"

Jaune blinked up at her. "You're kidding me right? Everyone knows what a snow angel is." Weiss stared at him blankly. "You're not kidding me. Well okay, it's fun, I'll teach you."

Jaune reclined in the snow, arms and legs fully extended. "All you do is lay back in the snow like this, and start moving your legs up and down, which makes a shape in the snow that looks like an angel." He demonstrated as he explained, before getting up. "Tada!"

Weiss still stared blankly. "That's supposed to be fun? All you did was push around some snow."

"Oh C'mon! At least give it a try!"

She considered him for a moment. "…No." And tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "A Schnee can't be caught doing something so frivolous anyways. There would be no point to such an unproductive activity." She crossed her arms and looked away imperiously.

Jaune looked at her and narrowed his eyes challengingly. "I dare you to do it."

"No, it's silly. It's just rolling around in the snow. I'll get all wet."

"Oh yea? Well I _double dog_ dare you to."

Weiss didn't know why, but suddenly everything seemed a lot more serious. Like Jaune had just challenged her honor or was subtly calling her a coward.

"Or are you scared?" …Or blatantly calling her a coward. This could not stand!

"Fine! A Schnee is scared of nothing."

Weiss awkwardly lowered herself on a clear patch of snow and hesitantly began moving her arms like she saw Jaune had, eyes closed in concentration. Was she doing it right? Was there some sort of technique that she wasn't aware of!? Oh god she hoped that she wasn't embarrassing herself right now.

"Uhh, Weiss, that's good. You can stop now."

"Huh? Oh right. I knew that!" Weiss quickly stood back up and turned to look at her creation, only to note with great dismay that whatever she'd created she'd demolished in her scramble to rise. She glanced between her own, and Jaune's near impeccable version, the only mar being the single handprint he'd had to create to stand back up.

"Well, it was a good try. We can do something else if you want." Jaune offered, noticing her small scowl.

"No! This is completely unacceptable! We will keep doing this until I get it right!" She threw herself back down into the snow and began flapping far more confidently than the first time.

Jaune shrugged and joined her with a wide grin. They spent the rest of the afternoon creating the perfect snow angels, until at the end they stared down at their latest creations. It may have taken longer than Weiss would have liked, but she finally figured out that creating the perfect snow angel was a two person job. One to make it, and another to pull the first up so they didn't ruin it with their movements.

"Perfect!" Weiss declared with a smile, uncaring of the fact that the two of them were soaked with snowmelt.

"I think I should start calling you Snow Angel from now on. I've never seen anyone enjoy it as much as you did."

Weiss huffed. "There's nothing wrong with enjoying your work."

"Kids!" They heard Isabella calling them from the doorway. "Come inside before you get sick!"

Isabella got the two settled in front of the television, buried in blankets, sipping hot cocoa, and watching a movie.

"Isn't there supposed to be something…productive we should be doing right now? Like, some sort of lessons or something?" Weiss stared at the open doorway to the kitchen, wondering why Mrs. Arc had left them there. This _never_ happened at Castle White. There was always something to be learning or practicing. She could write off the snow angel thing as a cultural phenomenon, but this was getting ridiculous.

"Lessons? Like school? No, we're on winter vacation right now. Aren't you?"

"I get home schooled. The only vacations I have are when daddy decides that I should be learning more about the family business or we go to some social function."

"Well, you can relax here. No lessons, no homework and no worries."

Weiss was able to gradually relax, finding herself enjoying the movie quite a bit. It was about two dogs and a cat trying to find their way home. Or at least she _was_ enjoying it until they got near the end.

"Jaune! They're leaving him behind! Why're they leaving him behind?! They can't leave him behind!" Her eye was locked on the screen as she pushed Jaune's shoulder insistently. One of the dogs had been injured and was trapped in a deep mud pit, and was ordering the other two animals to leave him there. Don't ask how they talked, they just did.

"If that were my railroad I'd make sure there weren't any stupid mud pits around! What kind of business do they think they're running?"

She didn't calm down until just before the credits when the trapped dog somehow made it back home, despite all the odds.

"You really got into that movie. Like it?" Jaune asked her cheekily.

Weiss crossed her arms, closed her eyes and turned her head away. This seemed to be her default pose whenever she was embarrassed by something and was called on it. "I-It was okay. I'm just appalled at how poorly maintained that business was. A simple wooden board over a ten foot deep mud pit is _not_ an acceptable solution. That poor dog could have died down there and no one would've even noticed." She snuck a look out of the corner of her eye at Jaune in a moment of silent scrutiny. "…I've always wanted a dog. A big one that I could play with!" She admitted with a smile, arms spread for emphasis. The smile dimmed with the next sentence. "But daddy always said that a dog would be too rowdy for the Schnee family."

"Too rowdy?" Jack poked his head into the room. "That's nonsense. Dogs are like, the best companions in the whole world. It all depends on how well trained they are." He entered the room fully.

"By the way Jaune, I think it's about time to start teaching you how to really fight."

"Really?!" Jaune's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Well, if you're going to keep going off to rescue damsels in distress then you'll need to be as strong as possible right?"

"Yea! Woo!" Jaune jumped up and started dancing around. Weiss noted with surprise that he seemed very well coordinated. Quite unexpected given all the earlier tripping incidents.

"I will never understand how you can dance so well yet trip over yourself so often." Apparently Weiss wasn't alone in that department.

* * *

The next day Weiss's bandages came off. Weiss attached herself to the bathroom mirror, prodding at her new scar worriedly. It ran from a little bit above her left eyebrow and extended to just below her left cheekbone. Father would be very displeased when he saw it.

"That is so _cool!_" Jaune's enthusiasm for her new feature was reassuring though. "Something like that will make people think twice before messing with you."

"You really think so? It's not…ugly or anything?"

"No way! I wish I had one. Then everyone would know how tough I was."

"Speaking of which, when do you start training?"

"In a couple days I think. I can hardly wait." Jaune almost seemed to vibrate in place in his excitement, nearly tripping himself again.

"Okay seriously, this is ridiculous." Weiss marched purposefully out, hauling Jaune behind her. "I'm going to teach you how to walk, and keep still."

"I know how to walk and keep still. I'm not dumb ya know." Jaune said, his tone offended.

"Jaune, you have tripped over yourself no less than seven times since I met you. And just now you looked ready to explode." She continued on, interrupting Jaune as he opened his mouth to protest. "Besides, think of it this way. Every great hero needs a good sense of balance and poise. I've been raised my entire life to be graceful and dignified, so I can teach you how to be as well."

"I do-" Jaune cut himself off at the glare he was getting from Weiss, with a deer caught in headlights expression. Jaune quickly lost in the battle of wills and slumped in resignation. "Oh fine."

"Good!" Weiss plucked a pair of hardcover books from a nearby shelf and stuck one on her head, balancing it perfectly even as she walked around. "The first step is good posture and controlled footwork. In this exercise you balance a book, or a stack of books atop your head and practice moving around. Once you can maintain the books while moving at your regular walking pace, you've mastered the exercise."

"Sounds easy enough. How hard can it be?" Jaune plopped his own book on his head and it immediately slid off. "Uhh, that was a practice round." It took a long time, much longer than Weiss would care to admit, but eventually she managed to get him to be able to stand still while balancing the book.

"See? Easy. I totally coulda done it in my slee-eeeep!" Sure enough, the moment Jaune started talking, the book began sliding, and he lost his balance in his attempts to keep the book in place, resulting in him landing flat on his back. "Ow."

Weiss facepalmed. "This may be more difficult than I thought."

* * *

"Keep your shield up Jaune! Never let your guard down!" Jack smacked his practice sword into Jaune's wooden shield.

"Guard above! Left! Right! Center!" With each call Jack made slow attacks from that direction, getting his son used to the basics of shield play. "Good, again!"

Jaune stumbled backwards as he caught a thrust on his shield. "When fighting a bigger opponent don't try to stop their attacks head on. Redirect them away from yourself by tilting your shield, or catch the attack and move with its momentum to get some space."

"He's not doing too badly is he Miss Schnee?" Weiss glanced behind her to see Elmont approaching along with his wife and daughter, who she had met just a little bit ago.

His wife's name was Oriya, and she had blonde hair, a shade darker than Jaune's and his fathers, green eyes and a tan complexion. She owned her own bar and restaurant in town, the Hunter's Home. Like the name suggested, it was a popular stopping place for Hunters and Huntresses. Being on the outskirts of the kingdom of Vale, Oakfield was a fairly frequent stopping place for passing through Hunters. The woman was nice, not quite so upbeat and mothering as Isabella was, outside of her own child at least, and didn't hesitate to reel in the children, Weiss and Jaune included, if she felt the need to.

Elmont's daughter, Lucia, was a six year old girl with brown hair in pigtails, blue eyes, and what Weiss considered an unhealthy amount of suspicion. She seemed absolutely certain of the fact that Weiss was out to steal her big brother Jaune away from her. But other than that she was a very nice little girl.

"Good afternoon Mr. Scorpius. Yes, Jaune seems to be taking to it rather well."

"Hello brother thief…" Lucia stared at her with narrow, suspicious eyes. "Plotting when to drag him away are you?"

"Once again," Weiss narrowed her own eyes at the girl, noting with some amusement that Lucia's gaze periodically went to her scar. Maybe it would be useful in the future. "I'm not stealing Jaune away. We're friends." The word sent butterflies flying in her stomach. Butterflies and happiness. Weiss could acknowledge it to herself, Jaune was her very first, _real _friend. Not one of those sycophants whose parents were trying to curry favor with her father.

"Lies! I've read the manga! Boy meets girl, girl coerces boy into following her on some crazy adventure, boy marries girl, and boy's younger sister is reduced to an infrequent side character!" She waved a fist animatedly over her head before drawing her hand down to point at Weiss. "I'm on to you Schnee." Lucia's blue eyes flashed with defiance.

The staring contest was broken by Oriya ruffling her daughters hair. "You have such an active imagination Lucy. Jaune won't ever forget about you. You're his favorite little sister after all."

"That's right!" Lucia crossed her arms and nodded with a satisfied huff, before scrunching her face in confusion. "…Wait."

Before she could explode Elmont spoke up. "I'm glad you're here Weiss. Last night your father asked me to start training you in the art of fencing, for self defense purposes of course, and I agreed. If it's alright with you we can begin immediately." They had been careful to contact Weiss's father every evening with updates of her status as well as the progress on repairing the airport. The supplies he'd been having airdropped to the town had been accelerating the process nicely.

Weiss jumped at the opportunity. She'd been having fun the last few days, but she'd been getting increasingly irritable with the lack of anything really productive to do. Learning how to fence would be a welcome change to all the unstructured free time.

"That would be wonderful Mr. Scorpius. I've been going mad with nothing productive to do."

"Marvelous!" He tossed her a bundle of gear. "Get changed into that and we'll get started right away!"

"You're gon-oof!" Jaune rolled to a stop at Weiss's feet, staring up at her with the wind knocked out of him. "You're gonna learn to fight too?" He wheezed out.

"Eyes on the prize Jaune, distractions can be hazardous. But yes, Mr. Scorpius is going to teach me the noble art of fencing."

"Cool!" Jaune sprung up, apparently recovered from his winding. "We can be sparring buddies or something!"

Lucia jumped up from where she'd been sitting, watching Jaune fight, and jabbed an accusing finger at Weiss. "Aha! I knew it! You _are_ trying to steal away my big brother! Admit it fiend!"

"I am _not_ trying to steal away Jaune you brat, so stop saying that!" A red faced Weiss nearly shouted back at the younger girl.

* * *

The next few weeks passed by in a blur to Weiss. She'd play games with Jaune and Lucia, train with Master Elmont, and have a generally all around pleasant time. Though she did suffer the occasional nightmare, remembering her time as a captive. But the edge was taken off of those by Jaune's steadfast midnight ice cream cure. He never failed to come charging when she awoke with a cry, and he never made fun of her for it. She missed her father, but this could very well have been the most fun she'd ever had in her life. No boring meeting sit ins, no unforgiving, super strict tutoring, no overbearing step mother, but most importantly, none of the loneliness that she had come to associate with Castle White.

It was a sad day for them when Oakfield finally got the airport up and running and her father was able to get a jet out to pick her up.

She and Jaune were sitting together in the lobby. Her father would be arriving soon to pick her up. Jaune's parents and Elmont were elsewhere, officially checking up on arrival times, but unofficially because Isabelle wanted to give them a chance to say goodbye.

"So, uh, you're going back to the city then." Jaune said, voice shaking ever so slightly.

"Yea. Back to the city." Weiss said quietly. Then there was an awkward silence where neither of them knew what to say. Eventually Jaune was the one to break it.

"Um, ehem." He cleared his throat, attempting to bolster himself. "I'm uh, I'm gonna, you know, miss you and stuff." He said haltingly, eyes stinging. "I mean, uh, you're well, probably my best friend."

Weiss bit her lip, her own eyes stinging with tears. "You're my best friend too." She was faring only slightly better than Jaune, her family's training having its effect.

Jaune took a deep, shuddering breath and quickly looked around them. Deeming the area clear and before he lost his nerve, he grabbed Weiss in a tight hug. Weiss was surprised into a moment of inaction, but she eventually returned it.

A few minutes later they were at the gate with the adults, waiting for Weiss's father to exit the plane. Weiss was sad to go, but she couldn't deny that she was happy to see her father again.

"It is good to see you well father." She said with a curtsy as he reached them.

"Weiss, I am glad to see that you are unhurt. I hope you've conducted yourself properly while away." Her father looked much better than he had over the video phone a few weeks ago. His burgundy suit was crisp and clean, and his short white hair was in order, each strand immaculately combed. His eyes lingered for a moment on her new scar and Weiss winced inwardly, knowing there'd soon be a conversation about it.

"Of course father." Albert nodded in satisfaction, his face stoic and neutral. Then he turned his attention to the adults, shaking each of their hands firmly.

"I cannot thank you all enough for the rescue and care of my daughter. But I hope this will at least slightly convey the gratitude I owe you." He handed one envelope to Jack and another to Elmont.

"Oh, Mr. Schnee, we don't need a reward. It was a pleasure having Weiss with us." Isabelle attempted to give it back.

"I must insist Mrs. Arc. If you do not want it then give it to charity, but I will not accept it back." She looked like she wanted to protest more, but seeing Albert's conviction quickly gave up.

"As I understand it, you are the one responsible for my daughters safety." He said, giving Jaune a considering look.

"What? Me? No, I just lead her to town. Dad and Uncle Elmont are the ones who saved her. The both of us really."

"Yes, but if you hadn't acted as you did, then your father and uncle wouldn't have been there either, and Weiss may still be with the White Fang right now. You are a very brave young man, and I suspect that I'll never be able to fully repay you."

Jaune flushed in embarrassment at the praise. "Oh, you're welcome. I was just doing the right thing. And besides, Weiss has become a very good friend ever since."

"Anyways, I'm sorry to cut this so short, but there are matters that must be tended to. Farewell and thank you all again." With another quick set of handshakes, Albert herded Weiss into the dustplane. She sent one last look back at the family that had taken her in and gave them a wave and managed a small smile for them.

The Oakfield residents stayed there until the plane was well on its way, a mere speck in the sky.

Jaune sighed in despair. There goes his best friend. He'd probably never see her again. Or if he did it'd be on tv or something. He remembered her telling him all about how important her family's business was, so maybe when she finally inherited it he would see it on the news.

* * *

Weiss sat next to her father, staring out the window at the steadily shrinking town.

"So, how was your stay there Weiss? Did you enjoy yourself?" Her father sounded a little bit uncomfortable, but at least he was making the effort.

"It was nice. Jaune and his family took very good care of me."

"So, I can assume that you wouldn't be opposed to returning regularly?"

Weiss's eyes snapped to her father. "Pardon?" Her tone was blank.

"I have arranged for you to return to Oakfield regularly to continue your lessons with Mr. Scorpius."

Weiss was barely able to keep her composure. Nonetheless, Weiss was unable to keep herself from smiling. She'd see Jaune again! This wasn't the last time they'd ever meet! "Of course daddy. I would love to continue my lessons with Master Elmont."

"And, there is one last thing. I have been convinced, that it may be prudent to have a…companion for you, just in case." He handed Weiss a book, the cover of which read, 'How to Train Your Dog'. German Shepherds in particular.

Weiss looked between him and it with wide eyes. "Really? I'm getting a dog? I thought you said they were too rowdy for a Schnee."

"I think you're big and mature enough now to be able to handle it. But if your grades and performance starts slipping, we will get rid of it."

"I understand daddy, thank you." Weiss tore open the book and began memorizing as much as she could.

* * *

Jaune sighed for the umpteenth time since Weiss had left, and they hadn't even left the airport yet.

"So what're you so down about Jaune?" Jack asked his son.

"What do you mean? Weiss is gone! My best friend just left!"

"Don't be so dramatic Jaune, she'll be back in a few months."

"I'm probably never even going to see her again! Who knows wh-" Jaune paused. "What?" he asked, tone blank.

"Yea, Weiss'll be back in a few months to continue her lessons with Elmont."

"What!? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Mr. Schnee wanted to tell her himself, so we couldn't tell you. You'd go blabbing it the second you found out."

"Do you know what I just went through!? I thought I was never going to see her in person again!" Jaune started chasing his father, wishing he had his practice sword, further provoked by Jack's laughter. But, under all that annoyance with his father's secrecy, Jaune had never been so relieved in his life. The problem now was, how was he expected to wait that long to see his best friend again?

* * *

**End Chapter!**

**There we have it, I think in the next chapter we'll be jumping to the start of the show.**

**Thanks everyone for the reviews, they were really great! I loved hearing that you liked it so much…Then I started writing this chapter and started worrying about whether I was doing it justice or if I'd set the bar too high on myself. I hope I'm able to keep you all entertained throughout this fic!**

**Does it surprise anyone that the biggest dilemma I had in this chapter was whether to give Weiss a dog or not? My god, I must have spent hours agonizing about that one. In the end I decided, 'My fic, she's getting a freaking dog!' Also, pretend the German Shepherd breed exists in RWBY and ignore the fact that Germany isn't a place in that universe.**

**Also also! I hope all of you have a safe and Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you happen to celebrate.**

**Please let me know how you liked it! All feedback, constructive criticism, and questions are all welcome and appreciated.**


	3. The Beacon's Call

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. I am writing this purely to see reader reaction and for fun. I make no financial profit doing this.

Chapter 3 – The Beacon's Call

Weiss darted across the grass, gliding like a skater on ice with Myrtenaster poised to skewer her opponent. As expected, Jaune raised his shield, easily catching the point of her weapon and pushed back, hoping to knock her off balance. Anticipating his reaction, Weiss spun to Jaune's right, avoiding the shield bash and lashing out with a slash at his throat. Jaune deftly caught the strike on his sword and made his own slash at her head, his longer and heavier weapon crashing through Weiss's extended sword. His strike met only air as she bent backwards, the blade passing just over her face and showing off her flexibility while she jabbed two fingers towards Jaune's chest, summoning a glyph that blasted him backwards with pure concussive force. If he weren't as tough he was, he may have blacked out from the strength and suddenness of it.

Lying off to the sidelines a large brown and black hound barked with approval, tail wagging rapidly through the grass. Around his neck was a large, sturdy, vest-like collar made with flexible metal plates. The collar extended down his chest and around his front legs, and wrapped around his shoulders. On one of the plates on his chest the name 'Adelric' was stamped into the armor over the Schnee family symbol. If the beast was standing, he'd be roughly three feet tall, weighing in at around ninety pounds. **(1)**

Weiss resisted the urge to look over at him, keeping her eyes locked firmly on Jaune as he smoothly rolled through the attack and back onto his feet, none the worse for wear.

"I swear Jaune, you're the most frustrating opponent to fight." She flicked her sword back into position. Jaune's aura levels eclipsed her own and he excelled at defense. But that wasn't to say that he wasn't capable on the attack, he most certainly was, but getting through his defenses and landing a solid, meaningful hit was something of a minor feat, and when you did land a hit his aura would usually absorb the damage easily, the change barely visible on the aura gauges they had. Heck, sometimes she expelled a larger portion of her aura to land a hit then she managed to take away from the blonde with the attack in the first place. He was like a bulwark! If you got into a battle of attrition against him, nine times out of ten he won.

"Perfect!" Jaune grinned widely. "If my enemy is frustrated, then they're more likely to make mistakes, right?"

Weiss sighed in exasperation before having to parry a lunging strike, and duck the following shield punch. Weiss stabbed at his thighs, managing a few glancing blows as Jaune's footwork negated some of the impacts force. He wore less armor than his father did, but he was more agile as a result. Then Jaune's shield came down behind her, trapping her between the wall of steel, Jaune's body, and his sword. She had just enough time for the phrase 'uh oh' to pass through her mind before she was caught in a bear hug that crushed the air out of her lungs, with her feet kicking a few inches above the ground and the flat of her sword pinned between them. Now, Weiss normally enjoyed his hugs, not that she'd ever admit it, but this was a fight, and as such, she was not currently enjoying herself, but as much as she struggled, she knew that she'd never be able to overpower Jaune in a contest of strength.

"So, give up yet Snow Angel?" Jaune smiled at her.

Weiss felt her face getting warm, chalking it up to the exertion of the fight and the more difficult time she was having breathing, before smirking right back at Jaune. "It's not over yet hero boy." She pursed her lips and let out a small whistle.

Jaune eyes widened and he was bowled over by a dark, barking blur, mid gasp as Weiss's German Shepherd launched himself from where he'd been lying at the sidelines straight into Jaune.

Jaune flailed under the canine as it bit into his sword arm with loud growls, not doing any real damage thanks to Jaune's active aura. "Weiss! You cheater! You said one on one!" He yelled, managing to get a foot under the beast and kick him off. Before he could come around for another charge, Weiss called him to her side.

"Adelric, heel!" The dog obediently trotted up to her panting happily as she kneeled down to vigorously pet him. "Good boy Adel. Who's my good boy?" She cooed at him with far more affection than she'd dare show outside of her friends and family. "Adelric is part of my arsenal. Many Hunters and Huntresses make use of animal companions in their fights. Just be glad that he knows better than to use his aura against you." Weiss had personally unleashed Adelric's aura when he was old enough, and now that he's learned how to utilize it he could cause quite a bit of damage, even against another aura user. Weiss scrunched up Adelric's jowls and quickly kissed his forehead before standing back up. "So I win."

"I call shenanigans." Jaune collapsed his shield into its sheath form and slid his sword into it. "When's our flight again?" He asked her with a little trepidation in his voice. Jaune hated flying.

"Just a few more hours. We should start getting ready." Weiss said, starting down the path back to town, Jaune jogging up beside her.

"I can still hardly believe I got accepted to Beacon. I mean, I never even attended a formal Primer Academy." **(2)**

Weiss puffed up a little in pride. "Of course you got in. You're good enough to be _my_ sparring partner after all. And with letters of recommendation from both your father and Master Elmont, Beacon didn't have any choice _but_ to accept you." Weiss had made sure to fly Jaune in for standardized testing when she took them. He could've done better on the more academic portions of the test, which she had aced of course, but he blew the physical portions out of the water, which she also aced, though she was far more tired at the end of it all than he was.

She was going to Beacon, drawn by the promise of finally having some real say in her own life and so that she'd be known as something other than the 'Schnee Heiress'. Don't get her wrong, she was quite proud to be a Schnee, but it could get very frustrating when that's all people saw in her. Besides, ever since the White Fang had taken a turn for the violent, being able to protect herself was a necessity, and the Hunters and Huntresses produced by Beacon were among the best warriors in the world. And to top it off, she'd get to spend more time with Jaune.

Jaune was going to Beacon to pursue his dream. He wanted to be a great hero like his forefathers, so there was no better place for him to learn. And of course there was the bonus of attending with his very best friend in the whole wide world.

"Good! There you two are! We've been looking for you." Jack and Elmont waved them over as soon as they were in sight of the house.

"We've got something for you as congratulations for getting into Beacon." They were both holding cloth wrapped objects that they quickly presented to their students.

Unwrapping them, Weiss found a Poignard, a lightweight dagger. It had a fifteen inch long blade, almost a short sword really, and was light enough that she'd be able to use it comfortably in her off hand. They were traditionally used in conjunction with rapiers and meant for stabbing attacks. Jaune received a Rondel, a dagger with a round pommel and hand guard, and a twelve inch blade, suited to stabbing and cutting. It was a popular secondary weapon for many due to their small size and the sturdiness of the metal.

"If there's anything I've learned in my time as a Hunter, it's to always have backups." Elmont said, watching fondly as the two teenagers marveled at the blades.

"Thank you Master Elmont. I'll put this, and your teachings to good use." Weiss curtseyed and tied the dagger to the small of her back, hiding it under her equipment pouch, the handle tilted up and within easy reach of her right hand.

"A good dagger can be the difference between life and death. Take care of your equipment and they'll take care of you." Jack grinned at his son.

"Thanks dad, I'll make you proud." Jaune tied his new weapon to his right waist, patting it to make sure it was secure.

"Alright!" Jack clapped his hands together cheerily. "Now that that's outta the way, we should get going to the airport. Can't have you two being late on your first day!"

"Ah, right!" Jaune ran into the house, quickly exiting with a pair of duffel bags slung over his shoulders, silently thanking Weiss. If it weren't for her affinity for organization he'd probably still be trying to figure out what to pack. Weiss's things were already in the plane, it being owned by her family and all. "I'm ready!"

* * *

"Ohhh, I can't believe my baby boy is leaving home already!" Isabelle clutched Jaune in a hug that threatened to cut off his air. Weiss, Jaune, his parents, and Elmont and his family were in front of the airport, saying their goodbyes.

"Moooooom! I'm not going away forever! You're embarrassing me!" After a few moments Jaune managed to struggle out of her hold.

"I told you all, didn't I? I told you that Weiss was going to drag Jaune away on some crazy adventure the first time we met, and I was right!" Lucia, now eleven years old, smugly stated. Her relationship with Weiss had improved over the years to that of sisters, but that just meant that Lucia got to tease the heiress even more and get away with it.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes. My plan is all coming together. Soon no one will be able to stop me from flying Jaune away to my castle and locking him away forever where only I can enjoy his company." She continued, dryly.

After all of the obligatory hugs and handshakes, of which Weiss was not exempt from either, much to her embarrassed happiness, Weiss and Jaune made their way through the security checkpoint, Adelric having to be put into a cage on a cart. The dog whined and whimpered, looking pitifully up at his master.

"Don't look at me like that Adel, you can't be out on the loose in an airport until you're a fully certified Hunting Dog." Eventually she managed to get him into the cage and they made it through the checkpoint unhindered. "Good boy. I'll let you out once we get to the plane."

"Don't forget Jaune! All a girl looks for is confidence!" Jack managed to stuff in one last piece of advice before they left hearing range.

"And make sure to look after each other out there!" Elmont chimed in, getting an acknowledging wave from the teens.

Isabelle raised an eyebrow at her husband, making him look confusedly at her. "What?"

"Oh nothing honey, I just find that bit of advice odd coming from you when you could barely get out even a sentence when you tried asking me out."

"Really? Uncle Jack was afraid to ask you out?" Lucia asked incredulously. Uncle Jack was one of the bravest men she knew. He wasn't even afraid of the Grimm!

"Oh yes, it got so bad that eventually _I_ was the one who asked _him_ out."

"Oh c'mon Izzy! Not in front of Lucy!" Jack whined, trying to cover his wife's mouth.

* * *

"_Jaune has such an intense look on his face. He must be anxious, this is a pivotal moment for him after all."_ Weiss thought to herself, watching Jaune. He was staring hard at the dustplane that would take them to Vale, face a mask of stoicism…which broke into an expression of fear as he latched onto a nearby pillar.

"I changed my mind! I'll walk! I don't wanna get on the plane!"

Weiss facepalmed. Of course that's what Jaune was thinking so intensely about. Every time Jaune set foot on a plane he'd get severe cases of motion sickness, which made these trips miserable for the poor blonde. It's not that she didn't sympathize, she always felt terrible seeing him in such a condition, but this was their only option. Cars would be too slow, not to mention vulnerable to Grimm attacks, and Oakfield wasn't connected to the railroad network.

But luckily, she knew exactly how to deal with this. "Oh, okay." She said with exaggerated sadness. "I guess I'll just go by myself then. I was looking forward to spending more time with you Jaune, but if this is how you feel then I can't make you." She made her voice as small and vulnerable as she possibly could, and slunk away towards the plane, disappointment emanating from her body language.

Jaune gaped after her, working his mouth silently. He lasted a grand total of two seconds, that was twice as long as last time, before he slumped and walked after her dejectedly. "Alright, wait for me." He sounded like a man going to his death sentence.

With her back still to Jaune, Weiss smirked. Worked every time.

"You know, one of these days that's not going to work on me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Jaune." Weiss smiled serenely as she walked up the ramp into the dustplane.

Sure enough, the ride to Vale proved to be every bit as bad as the last time Jaune made the trip. Well, that wasn't true, it was made mildly more tolerable by Weiss's presence and copious amounts of ginger ale and ginger cookies. At least the connecting flight from Vale to Beacon would be short, half an hour tops and that was just because the planes going there flew so slowly, so it shouldn't be that bad.

* * *

"Okay, this isn't so bad. The ride's rather smoo-eugh." Jaune clamped his hands over his mouth. Beacon's transport vessel was a lot smoother than a regular dustplane, so his motion sickness wasn't as bad as usual, but unfortunately it was still there. Weiss and Jaune had arrived safely in Vale after a few hours and were now aboard one of the official Beacon transports. Only academy owned vessels were allowed to dock at the Beacon shipyard, so they couldn't take the Schnee's jet straight to the academy.

Weiss rubbed at his back, hoping it would help sooth away some of the nausea, despite the white armor plate in the way. "Just a little bit longer Jaune. Look, we can see the academy from here."

"Mmhm." Jaune gulped down the last of his ginger ale. "Thanks Weiss. I think I'll be fine. It is something though, ugh." He said, looking out at what would be their home for the foreseeable future before bending over with another heave, clutching an empty plastic bag at the ready.

Weiss caught some giggling and the mentioning of 'vomit boy', and turned her head to glare at two girls laughing at Jaune's expense, Adelric following her example and growling threateningly at them, ears lowered, until Weiss placed a restraining hand on his head. One was a well endowed blonde, and the other looked to be rather young with red streaked, black hair. They at least had the decency to look properly chastised, as the shorter, dark haired girl waved meekly, and the taller blonde grinned sheepishly.

"The nerve of some people, taking pleasure in another's suffering."

"Huh, what was that Weiss?" Jaune looked up from the floor, face a little ashen.

"Oh, nothing Jaune, don't worry about it." She smiled reassuringly.

Over a nearby window, a hologram suddenly popped up, revealing a blonde haired, green eyed woman, making Weiss's eyes widen in recognition.

"That's Professor Goodwitch!" The woman was Weiss's all time idol, embodying everything Weiss strived to master. Poise, dignity, grace, intelligence, fighting prowess, she had it all. Glynda Goodwitch was one of the world's best aura and dust users, able to conjure entire storms in the blink of an eye. Weiss was proud to say that she even had the same semblance as the professor. She'd read every book that Goodwitch had published, and now Weiss would be getting actual training from her in person!

"Hello and welcome to Beacon." The hologram greeted them, as the students gathered closer. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among the privileged few that have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredibly time of peace, and as future Huntsman and Huntresses it will be your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage and ability necessary for such a task, and now it will be our duty to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world." Weiss carefully maintained her composure. She couldn't afford to be seen as the giddy schoolgirl meeting her idol, no matter how accurate that may be, lest she shatter the image she wanted to project.

Soon the plane had docked and the students poured out. When Jaune got out, the first thing he did was find the nearest patch of grass and collapse face first on it. "Oh, sweet, sweet, earth. I missed you. I promise I'll never leave you again." He could already feel the nausea vanishing as he hugged the ground.

"You say that after every trip, yet you never do it." Weiss nudged him with her foot, while Adelric poked at his face with his cold, wet nose, making Jaune jump back to his feet with a startled yelp.

"Gee, I wonder whose fault that is?" Jaune said sarcastically, brushing loose bits of grass off, watching their canine friend enthusiastically exploring the new area, never straying too far from Weiss.

Weiss ignored his tone in favor of looking out at the looming majesty of Beacon Academy. It was certainly impressive, with towers and walls made of white stone and granite, well groomed lawns and trees, and monuments to the great accomplishments of humanity.

"We made it. This is where everything starts." She bent down as Adelric trotted back to her, idly running a hand through his soft, but tough fur coat and deftly avoiding a lick to face.

"Yea, we really did. You ready Snow Angel?" Jaune smiled at her confidently.

Weiss gave a small smile. "Definitely."

* * *

**End Chapter!**

**(1) Adelric - Pronounced Ad-ell-Rick (How it's pronounced in my fic, not necessarily how it's supposed to be pronounced in real life) - Meaning "Noble Ruler", Germanic in origin.**

**(2) Primer Academy – This is what I'm going to call the Academy's (Like Signal and Sanctum) attended before going on to higher level Academy's (Like Beacon) Probably won't come up very often.**

**I hope everyone had a good Christmas (Or whatever you happen to celebrate), my own was pretty good, other than the horrid dinner parties my mom made me attend. (No mom, I do not want to mingle with your friends, all of whom are over 30 years older than me and that I have nothing in common with and make awkward small talk! **_**Please**_** stop forcing me to!)**

**So, we're at Beacon! Huzzah! A bit shorter than usual, but it's a good stopping point.**

**Also, Happy New Years! And thank you all for all the wonderful reviews!**

**Please let me know what you thought, all feedback, constructive criticism, and questions are welcome!**


	4. Initiation

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. I am writing this purely to see reader reaction and for fun. I make no financial profit doing this.

**Warning: There are some omakes at the end, so the chapter is not as long as the scroll bar may suggest. But the chapter itself is still around 9k words.**

Chapter 4 – Initiation

"So, where're we supposed to go now?" Jaune waved a tennis ball in front of Adelric, getting his attention as he jumped around, eager to play.

"We need to be in the auditorium in twenty minutes. I told you to read the orientation schedule they sent us." Weiss rolled her eyes, as she waited for her luggage to be loaded up on the dolly. The Beacon staff was taking care of their luggage until they'd been properly assigned rooms, but Weiss wouldn't be able to relax if she didn't oversee her things being loaded. A lot of her cases carried her stores of dust for reloading Myrtenaster, and although they were designed to prevent accidents there was no such thing as foolproof.

"Well, I was going to, but then I got distracted. Besides, I knew you'd have read and memorized it well before we got here anyways, so there wasn't any need for me to." Jaune tossed the ball as far as he could, Adelric darting after it in an instant, becoming little more than a blur.

"What would you do without me?"

"Probably get lost and or somehow trip over the cliff." Jaune grinned at her.

A sudden crashing behind them interrupted them. Turning around they found the red haired girl from the transport buried under Weiss's luggage, rubbing at her head.

"What are you doing!?" Weiss yanked away the case the girl sheepishly held out as she apologized.

"Sorry." She said meekly, trying to make herself as small as possible.

"Sorry? Do you have any idea the damage you could've caused!?" Weiss carefully opened the box and examined the vials within. As the lid lifted, a small cloud of multicolored dust blossomed out, making Weiss carefully freeze all movement until the cloud dissipated. Yup, several of the vials were now sporting cracks in them. They'd have to be replaced as soon as possible.

Once the dust had settled, she gently closed the lid and locked the latches. "This is dust, mined and purified from a Schnee Dust Quarry. You could've blown us all off the side of the cliff!"

"I'm really _really_ sorry!" She poked her fingers together, eyes darting between Weiss and the ground, shoulders hunched up while she ducked her head.

"Ugh! You complete dolt! What're you even doing here? Aren't you a little-!" Weiss cut herself off when Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder and Adelric came up beside her, panting lightly around the ball in his mouth with a doggy grin.

"C'mon Weiss, give her a break. She couldn't have known what was inside those cases and it was an accident. It's not her fault, these things happen."

Weiss looked between him and the girl, finally noticing her cringing posture and sighed lightly. "…You remind of when I have to scold my dog right now." She said ruefully. Indeed, Weiss imagined that if this girl had a tail it'd be tucked well between her legs as she hunched over herself in an attempt at hiding. "Fine, just be more careful not to trip over things in the future."

"So! I'm Jaune Arc, nice to meet ya." Jaune held his hand out friendlily.

The girl relaxed, gratefully taking it. "Ruby Rose, thanks."

"And this is Weiss Schnee and her faithful hound Adelric." Jaune gestured to Weiss who was busy carefully securing the compromised dust vials and Adelric who barked around his ball, somehow not dropping it.

"_Ruby Rose…Why does that sound so familiar…?"_ Weiss mused quietly as she closed the case one last time, and handed it off to one of the transporters with instructions to be extra careful with it.

"Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

"_Almost_ threw up. I didn't actually get there." This time anyways.

"Yea, and thanks for laughing at him for it by the way." Weiss glared at Ruby, who laughed nervously.

"Ehehehe, right. That. Sorry…again."

"Oh, no harm done. I didn't even notice." Jaune slapped at the air, brushing the incident aside, and marking the start of an awkward silence.

"Soooo, I've got this thing." Ruby pulled out her weapon, a large red and black scythe, and let it slam into the ground, creating a small hole.

Weiss and Jaune jumped back, startled as Adelric dropped his ball and started barking angrily, hackles raised.

"Gah! What are you doing!? You don't just go pulling out your weapon like that, you might hurt somebody!" Weiss latched onto Adelric's collar, holding him beside her as his barking subsided into disgruntled growls.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm so bad at this!" Ruby wailed, hiding behind her scythe from the canine.

"So, a scythe huh? Looking to do some farming?" Jaune's question once again wiped away the tension, as Ruby giggled hesitantly and Adelric went back to chewing on his ball, keeping a wary eye on the red cloaked girl, Weiss stroking his fur.

"It's also a customizable, high impact sniper rifle. But the only things I'm going to be farming are Grimm!" She spun her weapon back into its travel form. "So, what do you have?"

"Just a simple sword and shield." Jaune patted the blade at his waist.

"Oooh. What do they do?"

"Well, it doesn't transform into a sniper rifle if that's what you're asking." Jaune smiled, remembering his father and uncle going on about the new weapon designs that were so popular among the younger generations. 'What's wrong with a sword being a sword!? Why does it have to be a gun as well!?' Weiss got such a look of betrayal when she first showed them Myrtenaster.

Jaune's sword and shield were the same design as his great great grandfathers old set, the set that hung above their fireplace. His great great grandfather, Charlemagne Arc, had designed it himself, finding the best metals and the optimum ratios to use, having been a blacksmith by trade before he'd joined the Great War as a fighter. Even now, four generations later, that sword was in perfect condition. He'd named it the Crocea Mors, The Yellow Death, after the color of his aura and the ribbons of color it left in the wake of his strikes. Jaune had yet to name his own weapon.

Weiss snapped her fingers in triumph, pointing her index straight up. "Now I remember! You were on the news last week. They said that you stopped Roman Torchwick, from robbing a dust shop." Torchwick is one of the world's most notorious crime leaders, so it was quite a feat that this girl had been able to foil his operation.

"Umm, yea, that's right. Actually that's what got me into Beacon. Professor Goodwitch showed up in time to save me and then I got to meet Professor Ozpin and then he said I could attend Beacon!" Ruby beamed at the memory.

"You met Professor Goodwitch? What was she like?" Weiss never missed an opportunity to learn more about her idol.

"She was so _cool!_ But I don't think she liked me very much, and I didn't even get the autograph I asked for." Then she perked up. "But I did get Professor Ozpin's autograph!" She finished with a grin.

Well, now Weiss had two people to be on the lookout for. This Ruby girl, was apparently skilled enough to foil the plans of one of the most infamous criminals in the world, _and _get scouted by Professor Ozpin, quite possibly the world's most powerful Hunter and the Headmaster of Beacon, and Pyrrha Nikos, the girl who had just graduated at the top of her class at Signal Academy and set a new record for consecutive wins at the Mistral Regional Tournament.

"Umm, not to interrupt or anything, but don't we have to be at the auditorium soon?" Jaune asked, scratching at the back of his neck.

Weiss glanced at a nearby clock and gasped. "We only have five minutes!" And just like that she was off, dashing down the stone pathways with Adelric beside her. Jaune and Ruby stared for a heartbeat before chasing after her.

"Wait for us!"

* * *

They managed to make it to the auditorium with a minute to spare and Ruby was quickly flagged down by the busty blonde she'd been with on the plane.

"Oh, uh, I gotta go, see ya after the ceremony!" Ruby vanished in a swirl of rose petals that quickly disappeared.

"C'mon, I wanna get a good view before everything starts." Weiss said, weaving her way through the crowd. She managed to find a spot near the front just as Professor Ozpin began his speech.

"I'll keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." His speech over, Ozpin stepped away from the microphone and allowed Professor Goodwitch to step up.

"Well…that was…inspiring?" Jaune looked uncomfortable at the less than optimistic speech.

"He was very detached from it all…I think he's distancing himself from us as much as he can. I read that half of the schools fatalities take place in the students' first week here." Weiss said, with a speculative frown, and a hand on her hip. "Specifically, in whatever the initial test is." All students and staff had to sign agreements that they couldn't reveal certain pieces of information to anyone not already a Hunter, and the Initiation was one of them. The Initiation served to weed out those too weak to survive as Hunters so as to optimize their professors' efforts and resource allocation.

"You will gather in the Ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready." Goodwitch paused to look sternly out at them. "…You are dismissed." Then she exited the auditorium with the Headmaster.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by relatively uneventfully. They ate dinner, Adelric got cooed over by a bunch of the Beacon students, and they claimed some floor space for their sleeping mats. They were quickly joined by Ruby and her sister who she introduced as Yang.

"It's like a biiiiig slumber party!" Yang flopped down next to her little sister.

"I don't think dad would approve of all the boys though." Ruby idly scratched out some words in her diary. Now that Ruby brought up the topic, Weiss didn't think her father would approve either…He must never find out.

"I know I do." She purred at Jaune in his boxers and t-shirt that did nothing to hide his physique, who froze, looking at her wide eyed. Next to him, Weiss paused in her hair brushing and glared at the blonde beauty.

"Don't you have better things to do than ogle Jaune?"

"Nope."

Ruby tosses her pillow at Yang, knocking her over. "Oh leave him alone Yang, you're gonna scare him away."

So Jaune does the only thing that seems reasonable at the time and laughs nervously. "Scare me off? Pshh, that's crazy Ruby. You're crazy. I was just, uh, practicing my stealth mode, see?" He widened his eyes and became very still. "I'm completely unnoticeable now."

"Uh, okay Jaune, whatever you say." Ruby giggled.

"And if you weren't scared just now, why were you using your 'stealth mode'?" Weiss asked with a teasing smirk.

Jaune's mind blanked as he mentally flailed desperately for a response, while Ruby and Yang snickered at him. Fortunately for Jaune, he was saved by one of their overseers.

"Alright everyone, lights out!" A Senior level student announced from the doorway moments before hitting the light switch. Everyone settled into their bedrolls, Adelric curling up behind Weiss, and did their best to sleep, though many of them found it difficult with thoughts of the upcoming Initiation plaguing them.

"Goodnight Jaune." Jaune could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Goodnight Weiss."

* * *

"Seriously Jaune? One night and you already forgot which locker you picked?" Weiss facepalmed as she led him to the pair they'd picked out the night before.

"Well, I have you!" He exclaimed happily. "So I don't need to worry too much about remembering things like that. I just picked the one closest to yours and I forgot to write down the number." He laughed sheepishly.

"How did you ever function when I wasn't there to keep track of things for you?" She shook her head in mock despair with an amused sigh. It was nice to be needed.

They reached their lockers and Weiss grabbed her weapons and equipment. Once she'd secured Myrtenaster to her waist she looked over to find Jaune still trying to open his locker.

"…You forgot the code to your locker didn't you?" She asked blankly. Jaune could only grin and laugh nervously in response. "Move aside." She took his place and with a few quick taps on the number pad the locker opened.

"Thanks Weiss." He grabbed his armor and weapons and began strapping them on.

"So, teams are supposed to be comprised of four people. If we can help it, I think we should do our best to get Pyrrha Nikos on our team." Weiss nodded over at the red haired Spartan as she adjusted her armor.

"Who now?" Jaune glanced over at the red head blankly.

"Pyrrha. You know, the girl who graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum?" More blank looks. Weiss was starting to get frustrated. "She won the Mistral Regional tournament four years in a row? A new record?" Still nothing. Honestly, she'd explained this to him on the plane…wait, maybe that was why he didn't remember. "She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" She flapped her arms to emphasize her frustration.

Jaune finally gasped in recognition. "That's her?! Wow, they only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yea, I met her once at a charity fundraiser for kids orphaned by the Grimm a few years ago. She's really nice and very modest." Weiss approached the taller girl. "Hey Pyrrha, do you remember me? We met at a fundraiser a few years ago."

Pyrrha turned to Weiss and quickly smiled. "Hello Weiss, of course I remember. It's good to see you again. And this must be your dog you were so proud to tell me about. He looks very well trained." She bent down and let him get her scent before petting him. "I was wondering if I'd see you here. I remember you telling me you wanted to become a Huntress. And who's this?" Pyrrha asked, looking at Jaune interestedly.

Weiss wasn't sure she liked the look she was giving Jaune. It seemed like he was getting a little _too_ much attention from their female peers. "This is Jaune Arc, he's been my best friend since we were twelve."

"Hey, I've heard great things about you from Weiss." Jaune smiled at her.

"Nice to meet you Jaune." Pyrrha smiled back, moving a little closer.

Now, Weiss may just be paranoid, but Pyrrha seemed just a bit _too_ eager to meet Jaune, and seemed just a little _too_ close, so she quickly imposed herself between them.

"So Pyrrha, have you given any thought to whose team you'd like to be on?"

"I'm not quite sure. I was just planning on letting the chips fall where they may."

"Well, I was thinking that maybe the three of us could be on a team, you know, if we get to pick. I don't know who our fourth would be though." Perhaps Ruby. She was a pretty awkward girl, but there had to be something special there with her accomplishments. And if she could drill grace and coordination into Jaune, surely she could do the same with Ruby. But she probably wanted to be with her sister.

"Well that sounds grand!" Pyrrha smiled widely at them.

"Great!" Everything was shaping up quite well for Weiss! She and her best friend were both in Beacon, and now she'd convinced the strongest person in their year to team up with them.

Goodwitch's voice came over the PA. "Attention all first year students, report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation. Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

* * *

The new students all lined up at the cliffside, standing on large tiles with the Beacon Academy symbol on them. Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch stood before them giving them their instructions.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors. Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin said before Goodwitch picked up.

"I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Allow me to put an end to your confusion. All of you will be assigned partners today." Then the students had to shift their attention again as Ozpin spoke.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interests to be partnered with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"What!?" Both Ruby and Weiss cried out. Ruby in dismay and Weiss in shocked bafflement.

"After you've partnered up," He continued. "You will make your way to the northern end of the forest, where you will find an abandoned temple. On your way you will find opposition. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you _will_ die. We will be monitoring and grading you for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. In the abandoned temple, there will be several relics. Each pair of you is to retrieve one of these relics and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Weiss and Jaune raised their hands, but he continued as if he didn't see them. "Good! Now, take your positions." As the students all made their preparations, Adelric shook himself lightly and activated his own equipment in a quick golden brown flash of aura. The armored vest he wore expanded, plates shifting and unfolding to cover all along his back and flanks, and down to protect the thighs on his front and hind legs. The collar also expanded upwards, leaving plates on the back and sides of his neck, but left the head free of restrictions. The plating was black on a dark blue Kevlar surface. It was all smooth, rounded angles, with multiple sections hiding weaponry and ammo. A small, thin cannon is along the spine, capable of using dust ammo similarly to Weiss's Myrtenaster, and along his flanks, three foot long blades could be unfolded.

Moments later, the pads they were standing on began launching their occupants into the forest below.

"Why do you have such a…random way of creating teams?" Weiss had to hold herself back from outright insulting the method. "It doesn't make any sense! Shouldn't it be based on compatibility, and not some arbitrary game of chance?" Professor Goodwitch looked pained at her question. She'd brought up the very same argument with Ozpin many times before, but he'd always ignore it with the argument 'It's tradition!' or 'If it's not broken don't fix it. We are the top Hunter Academy in the world after all.' Or even, 'Come now Miss Goodwitch, I know you enjoy catapulting the students as much as I do.'

"It is these methods that have helped Beacon achieve and maintain its status as the best Hunter Academy in the world Miss Schnee. There can be no arguing against results."

Weiss scowled. "Fine. Then I'll take complete advantage of your flawed system for my own benefit."

"Please do Miss Schnee." Ozpin took an unconcerned sip of his coffee.

"Is this normal? To be catapulted off cliffs into forests in city schools?" Jaune asked, looking around. He seemed to be the only one concerned by what was going on. Not even Adelric looked worried. Maybe it was a common thing in the city.

"Relax Jaune, I got this." Weiss said seconds before her pad launched, catapulting her and Adelric over the cliff.

Weiss quickly created a glyph for her and Adelric to land on and spun around, just in time to see Jaune launched, and jumped into his trajectory, Adelric following flawlessly, and catching him while creating another glyph to step on.

"Well, that's one way to do it. She's like a mini you isn't she Glynda?" Ozpin mused with a small smile.

"She has a good head on her shoulders." Glynda said stoically. "I'm interested to see just how those two stand up to the praise of Scorpius and Arc though."

* * *

The three landed on the ground with a thud, Jaune stumbling slightly. "I think I just set the record for quickest pair formed." Weiss said smugly. Maybe that'd show the Headmaster just why his system was so dumb. It was too easily manipulated. He really should be testing them, collecting data on their abilities and temperaments, and _then_ assigning teams. Things may have worked out for her, guaranteeing that she'd get Jaune as her partner, but it was the principal of the matter! It was inefficient!

"Now, off to the forest temple!" Weiss began marching.

"Uh Weiss?"

"Hurry up Jaune, we can't afford to dilly dally! We're being monitored and graded after all."

"You're going the wrong way. North is this way." Jaune pointed a thumb behind him.

"Oh… I knew that!" This was why Jaune was always the one taking point when they were in nature. He had a much better sense of direction then she did in forests and such. Though she was far superior in urban navigation.

They traveled silently, wary of Grimm encounters. They'd fought Grimm before, under Elmont's and Jack's supervision, but this was the first time they'd be alone.

Adelric trotted along in front, ears perked and twitching at the slightest noise. Jaune trailed after him finding the easiest path for him and Weiss to walk. It didn't take long for Adelric to come to a stop, growling softly. Weiss and Jaune readied their weapons, looking around them warily.

After a few tense moments, there was a roar, followed by a pack of beowolves bursting out around them. One lunged at Weiss, claws aiming to cleave her in two. He was met by a dark blur as Adelric crashed into him, taking them to the ground, jaws sinking into his jugular and tearing out the Grimm's throat, his aura sharpening his fangs and strengthening his jaw. The beowolve's claws scratched uselessly against Adelric's armored hide as the last of its life bled out.

While Adelric was tearing out the beasts throat, the cannon on his back rose up on a turret, the armor glowing with red rune like symbols, and blasted a red ball of flame into the face of another that was attempting to sneak up on him, cracking the mask and setting the fur on its chest and neck aflame. Adelric released his first victim and leapt at the next while it was staggering under the fire. In mid air the armor on his flanks shifted, blades unfolding like wings to cleave the arms off another pair of beowolves on either side of him while his front claws savagely tore into the burning Grimm.

Weiss quickly rotated the red dust chamber into action, Myrtenaster's blade glowing red with energy. "I've got this side, you take that side!" She called to Jaune as she charged one of the bigger wolves. She came to a stop just outside of his range, one of his claws swiping in front of her face and slashed her sword down sending a wave of fire shooting across the ground. It collided with the beowolf and engulfed it in a pillar of fire, setting it and two others nearby ablaze. They quickly went mad with panic and pain, flailing around and into each other, their dry fur quickly burning away. As they burned, Weiss spun around, stabbing Myrtenaster into the ground and making several large icicles burst up like a wall of spears, skewering another pair of beowolves that were trying to sneak up on her.

"Weiss 8'oclock duck!"

Weiss didn't hesitate to follow Jaune's order, and a beowolf flew over her, having just attempted to tackle her to the ground. Just as it stood back up, Weiss was in front of it, her left arm a blur as she thrust repeatedly in precise locations, her right hand held up behind her in the traditional fencer's stance. She stabbed the stomach, lungs, kidneys, throat, and then the heart, piercing all the way through the Grimm. It slumped on her blade, like a puppet with its strings cut, collapsing to the ground when Weiss pulled her blade out, whipping it to her side to flick off the gore.

"Heh, too easy."

Jaune ducked down as a beowolf jumped at him. Catching it on his shield, he swung it into the ground and pinned it there, where he quickly stabbed through its throat, the head nearly popping off. He quickly pulled his blade free, finding another pair of wolves charging him. Rather than meeting them both head on at the same time, Jaune quickly circled around them, causing them to trip over each other as they both tried to keep him in front of them. Jaune smirked to himself as he charged the prone beasts, skewering the both of them in one stab, then tore it out their flanks, taking chunks of organ and bone with it.

"Alpha on your five!"

Jaune rolled to his left, as the alpha crashed where he'd just been, ramming into the two beowolf corpses. It snarled in anger, smacking the bodies away, the bony protrusions on its arm tearing fur and crushing bone with audible snaps and cracks. It turned on Jaune again, roaring its bloodlust, and swiped its claws at him, first the left, then the right, trying desperately to tear Jaune into pieces. Jaune dodged back from the first attack while pulling his blade back in preparation. Dodging back from the second swipe he swung his sword to meet the attacking claw. The blade bit into its flesh, severing its right arm just above the wrist, quickly followed by a lunge forward, punching it in the throat with the edge of his shield, and simultaneously slashing it from its right hip to the left shoulder. As soon as his sword finished its swing, Jaune brought it swinging back at the alpha's neck, easily decapitating the giant beast, sending its head spinning through the air.

Jaune backed up a few steps, until he was back to back with Weiss and Adelric, shield at the ready. "Clear on my side."

"Same here." Weiss poked at the still burning beowolf bodies, confirming their deaths. Judging them to be deceased, she quickly rotated her cartridges to the light blue and with a quick swing a spray of water snuffed out the flame. Adelric was sitting beside her, happily licking his chops.

"Well that went pretty well if I do say so myself." Jaune said, looking proudly at their first encounter.

"Not bad at all. But we need to keep going. I'd prefer not to be out here when it gets dark." They weren't given a time limit, so the test could very well last more than a day. But everyone knew it got many times more dangerous in Grimm territory in the dark, so it was likely that if you didn't succeed quickly, you wouldn't succeed at all in this test.

"Right, good call." They continued through the forest at a quicker pace, hoping to make up for the time lost dealing with that pack.

* * *

They eventually came upon a cave with some crude drawings of a scorpion and what looked like cavemen at the entrance. Adelric's ears were bent back as he growled quietly at the cave.

"Would they have built a temple in a cave?" Jaune asked Weiss, staring uncertainly at it.

Weiss crossed her arms, humming in contemplation. Clearly Adelric didn't like it here, but that didn't mean that this _wasn't_ where the temple was. "I won't say no. Way back before the kingdoms had been established construction was a lot more difficult and dangerous. A cave would offer immediate and free protection from both the Grimm and the elements, so it wouldn't be farfetched to think that. But on the other hand, caves are popular places for Grimm to nest in for the same reasons." Weiss was leaning towards the latter option due to Adelric's reaction. Dogs had much stronger sensory capabilities than a human after all.

"I think we have to check it out. Unless we can definitively say that this isn't it, we need to go in." The information they'd been given was rather lacking. Probably by design.

Weiss nodded. The ruins could have been made entirely because a Grimm incursion had forced them out of the cave and the former occupants had never been able to return. And it would be incredibly annoying to skip it only to find out later that this was the right place. "You're right. Take point, but be extra careful. Judging from Adelric's distress there's something we won't like in there." The dog whined disgruntledly, but followed nonetheless.

Weiss and Adelric loaded their weapons with their light blue dust, gently illuminating their way with Myrtenaster's and Adelric's armors glow.

"I wonder how far it goes." Jaune stepped around a protruding rock and over a puddle of rainwater.

The cave was certainly deep. Eventually they lost sight of the entrance completely. Fortunately there was only one path, so there was no chance of them getting lost despite some winding turns. The deeper they went the more agitated Adelric became, but he was smart enough to cease his growling in the hopes of keeping their presence unnoticed.

Abruptly, Adelric came to a complete halt, freezing in place as the gun on his back swiveled around, trained on something Jaune and Weiss couldn't see.

Then a rumbling filled the cave as a red glow built up in front of them, revealing the form of an adult, battle scarred Death Stalker.

"Ohhh, yea that makes sense." Jaune pointed at it, looking at Weiss. "You know, with the cave drawings back at the entrance."

"And the most annoying part is, this isn't even the temple." Weiss said, noting that this is where the cave ended. There were many bones, animal or otherwise, scattered about the area and dozens of what looked to be Death Stalker molting remains. But there were no signs of manmade structures.

The Death Stalker let out a rattling hiss and it advanced on them. It was quickly met by a shining blue shot from Adelric that froze its face solid while Weiss stabbed her rapier into the ground, causing a jagged wall of ice to burst into existence, cutting the scorpion off from them.

"Run! This isn't our objective!" And who wants to make a frontal assault on a fully grown, clearly experienced, Death Stalker? All of a Death Stalker's combat ability lay in frontal attacks, and their carapaces were incredibly tough. Even high powered sniper rifles had difficulty breaking through. So a small cave that stripped them of all maneuverability was just about the worst place to fight one.

"Right!" Jaune channeled his aura into this shield and armor, the white light more than enough to illuminate the path. They could hear pounding and crashing noises as the Death Stalker struggled to break down the wall. It didn't take long for them to hear the roar of the ice shattering, followed by the ominous scuttling of its legs skittering across the stone and dirt behind them.

The Death Stalker was soon catching up to them, it's rapid strides and bulk plowing through any obstacle, though it was slowed down by continuous shots alternating between fire and ice from Adelric's gun pointing behind them on its turret.

The three burst out of the cave and darted into the forest, not stopping for a moment. Seconds after they'd cleared the tree line the Death Stalker exploded out of the cave, sending rock and dirt out in a shower. It continued its chase of the Hunters in training, this time having to scuttle around the thick tree trunks.

"We're headed north right?" Weiss panted out.

"Yea." Jaune risked a look behind them, dismayed to find the giant Grimm still after them, splintering the trees in its path. "This guy just won't give it up!"

"Good, get ready for a speed boost!" Weiss quickly formed another trio of white glyphs on the ground just in front of them. When they stepped on them they became blurs, darting through the forest, flickering in and out of view to the naked eye. With Weiss's boost, they quickly left the Death Stalker behind as it hissed angrily, still attempting to catch up to its prey.

* * *

A few minutes later, Weiss, Jaune and Adelric slid to a stop, the white haired girl bending over, hands on her knees, in fatigue. Well, Weiss and Adelric slid to a stop anyways, Jaune collided into a tree and fell on his back groaning out 'So close.'

"Oh jeez, I don't think I've ever used that much of my aura so quickly before." She panted out, sweat sliding down her cheek.

"Yea, but it seems like we lost that thing, so great job!" Jaune pushed himself to his feet, thankful for his aura's protection, and handed her his canteen, full of water laced with energy boosting herbs. She quickly took it, taking a few large swallows before handing it back.

Their attention was drawn to Adelric as he started barking excitedly, looking down at something. He'd wandered to the edge of the hill they were on and now his tail was wagging furiously.

"What'd you find Adel?" Jaune crouched down next to him, idly petting his neck. "Well. I think we found the temple." He said as Weiss caught up to them, still a little short of breath.

"Good! But looks like Yang beat us here." The blonde was with a black haired girl with a bow and what appeared to be a cleaver strapped to her back, examining what were probably the relics. "I wanted to be the first ones here." She said in mild disappointment

"Well, they probably didn't have a mystery cave and a giant evil scorpion to contend with." Jaune started down the hill.

* * *

"Hey guys, what took ya so long?" Yang greeted them brightly, waving a golden Knight chess piece. "The forest give ya trouble?"

"Yea actually. An entire Beowolf pack and what seemed to be an ancient Death Stalker were bent on having us for lunch." Jaune replied as he and Weiss passed them to examine the artifacts.

"Death Stalker? And you killed it?" She asked impressed.

"Well, no. We didn't want to waste our time with it when it wasn't related to our objective at all, so we just ran away from it. Not that it was particularly easy."

"Aw." She sounded a little put out, but didn't say anything. Death Stalkers were very dangerous, even to fully fledged Hunters. Their venom could kill within a few minutes, provided of course you survived the stinger impaling you in the first place.

"Chess pieces huh? I wonder if there's some sort of hidden meaning to each of them." Weiss mused, looking at the golden King. "What, no queen?" That annoyed her. The queen was the most valuable and powerful piece on the board.

"Well, we can just take the King. That's the one that decides the victor right?"

Weiss scowled. "It's also the weakest piece besides the pawn, as well as the most useless. A liability really." Looking at the remaining pieces, Weiss pointed at one of the golden Rooks. "We'll grab that one. It has the most point value in tournament style competitions." In standard tournament games, Queens were worth nine points, Rooks five, Knights and Bishops three, and Pawns one.

Jaune shrugged. Didn't matter to him which piece they took as long as they passed. "Sounds good. Do you wanna carry it or should I?"

"You're the walking bulwark, so you." Weiss picked up the tower and passed it to Jaune, who tucked it inside an equipment pouch.

"Did either of you see Ruby out there?" Yang asked them, leaning against a pillar. Her left foot tapped incessantly at the cracked and chipped stone floor as she looked worriedly into the forest. "We've been here for a little bit now and you're the first to have come by. I wonder if she's already been here." Other than the two pieces those present had taken, there were three others gone; one gold Pawn and both of the black Bishops.

"Sorry no, you two are the first we've come across." Weiss said before turning to who was apparently Yang's partner. "By the way I'm Weiss, this is Adelric, and that's Jaune." She said gesturing to her companions in turn.

The black haired girl nodded at her neutrally. "Blake." Then her expression became slightly wary, eyes locked on Adelric as he approached, sniffing at her curiously. "Umm. Good doggy? Go away, I don't want to play." She tried shooing him away, unsuccessfully. Adelric kept poking and pawing at her, prompting Blake to swat at him ineffectually. It quickly turned into a game of Blake pushing him away while he jumped and playfully bit at her, barking occasionally. Eventually Blake got sick of this and darted up to perch on one of the pillars, glaring down at Adelric as he barked up at her.

"Weiss! Control your dog!"

"Adel, heel! Bad boy! You should know better than to bother strangers." Weiss scolded him, making him whimper sadly, before Weiss sat down next to him, draping an arm around the dog. "Just stay by me alright?"

Blake seemed content to stay on top of her pillar, keeping watch.

"Umm, so Weiss, what's the plan?" Jaune asked sitting on her other side.

"Since we've secured the objective and there was no mention of time being an issue, we'll wait here with Yang and Blake, and go back with them and whoever else shows up. Safety in numbers after all."

Suddenly both Blake and Adelric turned their attention to the sky. "Uhh, guys…?" Blake pointed upwards.

The others looked up and spotted a pair of girls falling from high up in the air, an enormous Nevermore above them.

"Is that…Ruby and Pyrrha?" Weiss squinted her eyes, one hand blocking the sunlight.

"Oh boy." Jaune said, gut going cold at the impending disaster.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted in a panic, looking around for something to help her catch the little red loving girl.

"Are they slowing down?"

Yang looked back up at Jaune's question. Yes, their descent was slowing as they reached the treetops, quickly followed by the pair dropping to the forest floor.

"Ruby! Are you alright!? What were you doing jumping off a Nevermore!? How did you even get up there!?" Yang crushed her sister in a hug.

"Yang, air!" Ruby managed to groan out, gasping as Yang released her. "Pyrrha and I were having trouble finding the ruins, so we thought we'd get a bird's eye view. And it worked!" She finished brightly.

"How could you have trouble finding the temple? All you do is keep going north." Weiss said, sending a glare at Jaune as he opened his mouth in an attempt to point out her own troubles finding north, he obligingly closed his mouth, but sported a wide grin.

"Well, to be fair, 'go north' isn't exactly the best of directions." Pyrrha said.

A split second after she'd said this, a loud crashing came from the tree line.

"YEEEEEEHAAAAAAAA!" Out came an ursa knocking over a tree in its wild flailing. Then there was a pink explosion as it fell over dead, an orange haired girl tumbling from its back over its head.

"Aww. It's broken." She looked disappointedly at the bear like creature.

"Nora," A boy with long black hair and a green battle outfit stumbled into view, grabbing onto the corpse for balance as he panted. "Please, don't ever do that again."

The now identified Nora glanced at him. "I was riding an ursa Ren. You're argument is invalid!" She happily informed him before she zipped over to the relics, looking at the remaining gold Rook. "Ooooooh!" She seemed enamored with its shiny surface, and quickly yanked it from the pedestal, holding it over her head triumphantly. "I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!" She sung, posing with the chess piece. To her spectators, it seemed like there really should have been a background theme song for that moment.

"Nora!" Her partner yelled aggravatedly.

Nora giggled unrepentantly. "Coming Ren!" Then she skipped off merrily, before she froze mid skip. Her eyes trained on Adelric before she blurred. "Puppy!" And then Adelric was wrapped up in an enthusiastic hug as Nora nuzzled into his fur. "Oh you're so cute! I love you!"

"Did she just come riding in on an ursa?" Blake asked blankly, jumping down from her perch.

"Yea she did, and it was awesome!" Jaune exclaimed.

"I'd call it insane." Weiss crossed her arms, watching the bubbly girl cuddle her hound. _"But that was pretty cool."_ She admitted to herself.

"Most of the time the two are one in the same to Nora." Ren said as he caught up to them all.

"Uhh, Ruby, you might wanna get your relic now. That bird is coming back 'round, and I get the feeling we don't wanna be here when it does." Jaune said, watching the Nevermore.

"Oh, right!" She quickly picked up the remaining Knight piece, just before the Death Stalker Jaune and Weiss had escaped plowed through the tree line, roaring at the gathered humans.

"Let's get back to the cliffs! There's no reason to waste time with these things." Weiss spun her light blue dust into use, and in a burst of white was charging the scorpion.

"She knows she went the wrong way right?" Yang asked Jaune.

"Yea, but she also knows we can't outrun that thing, so she's gonna slow it down. Let's go, she'll catch up!"

The remaining seven Hunters in training dashed for the cliffs where they'd been launched from, using the treetops as cover against the Nevermore's attacks. To their right a small Iceberg erupted around the Death Stalker, and Weiss was making her way back towards them, her glyphs allowing her to catch up easily.

"That ice really comes in useful doesn't it?" Jaune asked her. She just smiled in response, not wanting to waste the breath it would take to respond.

Unfortunately for them, it seemed the Nevermore was familiar with this scenario. As soon as they reached the edge of the forest, leading into more ruins at the base of the cliff, the massive bird perched itself atop the main stone structure and screeched out, as if challenging them.

"Well that's great." Yang grumbled from behind a pillar with Ruby.

"Nora, did you just carry that dog the whole way here?" Ren stared at his partner who was hugging Adelric to her chest.

"Yes." She stared right back at him.

"…Alright." Ren chose not to question it further.

"Well, there's nine of us, and one of it. Anyone have any plans?" Weiss asked, loading a fresh light blue dust cartridge.

"I say we kill the freaking scorpion that just won't take a hint!" Jaune yelled, leaving his cover just as the Death Stalker came crashing through the trees. Pyrrha, Yang, and Nora didn't hesitate to follow right behind him. Ruby, Blake, Ren, and Adelric ran around its sides to flank it and Weiss stayed back to provide support, waving Myrtenaster in front of her and creating blue sigils that shot at the scorpion, creating blocks of ice where they hit, freezing joints and blinding eyes.

"Neutralize its weapons and it's finished!" Weiss called.

Jaune's shield was angled just over his head as he slid under the first pincer, stabbing deeply into its joint, sword glowing white with his aura, and braced himself, holding the claw in place as several ice bolts froze it to the ground. The second pincer was caught by Yang making her slide a few inches back while allowing Pyrrha to nail her javelin through its joint and into the ground. Meanwhile, the stinger was attempting to skewer Nora, just as she was making a swing with her massive war hammer.

"FORE!" Magnhild arced up like a golf club, colliding with and crushing the tip of the stinger, throwing its tail all the way behind it and laying it out on the ground, creating an indentation the size and shape of it. Taking advantage of the Death Stalker having no means of stopping her, Nora smashed her weapon into its face over and over, its eyes popping in a grotesque parody of whack-a-mole and fracturing the carapace. "Going for the high score baby!"

The Death Stalker shrieked in pain and rage, struggling with the four warriors as dark blue blood seeped out of its wounds.

At its sides, Ruby used her speed to scythe through all the legs on its right side, breaking through ice and bone alike, as Blake jumped on its back, Gambol Shroud digging into the crevices on its exoskeleton as she began working it back and forth, carving it away from the flesh.

On the left side, Adelric latched onto its front most leg, fangs digging into the thick carapace and violently shook his head back and forth as the cannon on his back shot balls of fire at the joint holding it to the body. With a golden flash, Adelric tore the limb completely off the scorpion's body, dropping it to the side with a thud. Ren joined Blake atop the Grimm, stabbing his Storm Flowers deep next to Gambol Shroud, adding his efforts to hers. Pyrrha left Yang to hold the Death Stalker's claw and jumped up to join them, grabbing onto the plate and pulling. Together they pried the section of carapace away, tearing it from the flesh in a spray of blue gore they all somehow managed to avoid. The tail flailed, as the Death Stalker struggled against them, unable to resist properly with only three working legs and its pincers occupied by those in front of it.

"Make way guys!" Ruby called as she shot herself into the air with Crescent Rose's recoil.

The three jumped off the giant scorpion, leaving Ruby free to cut loose as she shot off her weapons gun for added power and cleaved the Grimm in two right at the point where it now had no protection. The Death Stalker gave off its death rattle, roaring in rage and agony before the light faded from its pulpy eyes and the decorations on its carapace. Yang and Jaune released the pincers, letting them drop to the ground with loud thuds, Yang pulling Pyrrha's weapon free in the process.

"That wasn't so bad!" She tossed it over to Pyrrha, who wiped the gore from it as best she could. She'd have to clean it as soon as she could to make sure the transforming mechanisms didn't fail.

"That was awesome! We tore that thing a_part_!" Ruby celebrated, high fiving Nora.

"That one was easy with our numbers, but I still don't have any ideas for the Nevermore." Weiss stared at the bird perched atop the ruins. Luckily they'd still had the cover of the tree tops or else that bird would probably have come in and made everything much more difficult. It screeched again, sounding a little more agitated than before as it took off, circling the ruins.

"I've got an idea." Ruby said, looking around at their resources.

* * *

"This is insane!" Weiss yelled, holding the chunk of carapace in midair with a glyph.

"Insanely awesome!" Nora yelled from where she was sitting on top of it.

Nora, Yang, Pyrrha, and Jaune were all on top of the carapace, clinging tightly to it. They were all just inside the tree line with a good view of the sky.

"Just hold on really tightly, because if you fall I won't be in any condition to catch you."

Ren, Blake, Ruby and Adelric were standing to the side, ready to run out into the open. Ruby's plan was crazy, but simple. The biggest problem they had with the Nevermore was its flight capability. So Ruby's plan was to neutralize that by flinging their physically strongest people up to it so they could bring it down, either by breaking its wings or severing the tendons in them. It'd be up to them to make a safe landing, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem seeing as how they'd all had to survive long distance falls at the very start of the test. Weiss was a little concerned for Jaune, but she'd trust him to get through it.

"Yea yea, go go!" Nora shouted at them.

The four didn't hesitate, moving out of the tree line, immediately drawing the attention of the Nevermore as they fired into the sky. They weren't even trying to hit it, just make themselves as noticeable as possible.

The Nevermore roared, gliding towards them. It pulled its wings back before throwing them forward, launching dozens of feathers that impaled the ground, pillars and trees as they dodged around them.

Weiss's eyes narrowed in concentration as the Nevermore came closer. A railway of glyphs spun into existence, leading straight into the flying Grimm.

"Firing main gun." Nora announced. No one knew how, but she was spot on as Weiss weaved her sword through the air, focusing her power and shooting the carapace off like cannon, Nora laughing the whole way with her arms in the air as Jaune held her down.

The Nevermore swerved attempting to avoid the projectile, only for the line of glyphs to shift, following its turn. The carapace plate smashed into the bird head on, shattering over its neck as the occupants leapt onto its back.

Back on the ground Weiss staggered, sight blurring at the massive aura expenditure. She ended up sitting against a tree with Adelric standing protectively by her, trying to see if the plan was working.

The Nevermore flopped in midair, the collision disrupting its flight. It fell for several seconds, recovering just in time to skim the top of the trees.

Jaune was on the birds right side, dagger in his left hand and sword in his right, impaling the beasts shoulder. Pyrrha and Yang were on the left side, Yang holding onto the feathers and Pyrrha with her javelin stuck in its back. Nora however, was at the base of the Nevermore's neck, climbing up towards the face. If they were next to her they'd hear her humming the 'Ride of the Valkyries' theme.

"Yang! Pyrrha! You take that wing and I'll take this one! I think Nora's got something crazy planned!" Jaune shouted over the wind tearing at them. They both nodded, pulling themselves over to the shoulder joint.

Nora crawled over the Nevermore's face, and down its beak. "Open up for momma!" She held her grenade launcher under her arm.

As if they'd timed it, Yang and Pyrrha, holding the Spartan's spear jammed it deep into the joint, Jaune doing the same on his side, making the Nevermore's beak open in a shriek of pain. Nora easily flipped into its maw, holding it open with one hand while she emptied her clip down its throat.

"Eat my dust! Get it?! Cause they're dust filled grenades!" The grenades bounced down its gullet, landing somewhere in its stomach before they detonated, making its body bulge outwards, smoke trailing out of its throat. The Nevermore made a groaning noise as it ceased moving, its body falling down to the forest below. Nora flipped away from the carcass, landing safely in a tree's foliage.

Yang, Pyrrha and Jaune followed suit, abandoning ship over the sides and into the nearby trees. The Nevermore never got the chance to regain any of the altitude it'd lost in the initial attack. The Nevermore's corpse crashed into the ground, carving a small trench into the forest floor.

"We're all just raven lunatics aren't we?" Yang asked, watching for reactions. Nora started giggling, Pyrrha smiled politely, but her expression was strained, and Jaune shook his head with a groan.

"God damnit Yang."

* * *

"Russell Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, and Sky Lark." Professor Ozpin said, the faces of each student appearing on the overhead screen as he introduced them. "The four of you retrieved the black Bishop pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Cardinal (CRDL), led by Cardin Winchester." The four boys stepped aside so the ceremony could continue.

Ozpin held in an amused laugh as he lip read Weiss's whispered criticisms. "Really? He's deciding the rest of the teams based on what relics we picked? It doesn't make any sense! It's so inefficient!"

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Pyrrha Nikos, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you have retrieved the white Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team Burn (BYRN), led by Ruby Rose."

Yang picked up her sister in a bear hug. "Oh I'm so proud of you!" Ruby looked excited, if a bit nervous.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Weiss Schnee, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you have retrieved the white Rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Luna (LWNA), led by Weiss Schnee." Weiss smiled in pride, as Jaune patted her on the back in congratulations. Nora jumped on Ren in a celebratory glomp, and Adelric barked from his place at Weiss's feet.

"I knew you had it in ya Snow Angel. Happy with our team?"

"You weren't so bad yourself Knight." Weiss glanced over at Ren and Nora, smiling lightly at the exchange. "I think I can manage."

* * *

**End Chapter!**

**Crack theory! When Yang is trying to reassure Ruby during the slumber party dealy she says "You've got friends all around you, you just haven't met them yet." And Jaune says that his mom says "Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet". And Jaune and Yang both have blonde hair, therefore Yang is Jaune's mom in the future who somehow traveled back in time!**

**So, how'd you all like the fight scenes? I always feel like it's lacking something, like it's too straightforward. Kinda hard to have witty banter with a Grimm after all. And it's **_**really**_** difficult writing scenes with so many characters in them!**

**Also, Omake!/Alternate Scene!**

Puppy Ruby

"You came back!" Ruby waved her arms in the air with a massive, relieved grin.

Weiss blinked, glancing between the girl and her dog, who gave a confused whine. "Yup. You're part puppy. There's no way around it. Now you're reminding me of Adelric after he hasn't seen me for a few hours." Weiss imagined Ruby with a tail, whipping back and forth with enough speed and power to break small trees and bruise legs.

"What? I'm not a puppy!" Ruby pouted.

Weiss pulled a tennis ball from her pouch and both Adelric and Ruby locked eyes on it as she tauntingly moved it side to side. "Wanna play?" Adelric barked happily and Ruby nodded rapidly. "Alright then, go get it!" Weiss chucked it away and they both chased after it. Ruby reappeared moments later in a shower of rose petals clutching it over her head triumphantly.

"I got it!" Then she was bowled over by Adelric and the two started wrestling on the ground for the small green ball.

"Get off! I got it first! It's mine!" Adelric managed to snatch the ball, making Ruby jump on his back. "Give it back!"

"Yup. Totally a puppy." Weiss couldn't stop the smile from spreading.

**Inspired by – www. deviantart art/ RWBY-You-came-back- 401806745 (No spaces) ****You can just go to Deviantart and search "you came back rwby". It should be pretty obvious which picture I'm referencing, and the artist is reef1600**

**Omake #2!**

Naming Woes!

Professor Ozpin sat at his desk, glaring down at a sheet of paper with many seemingly random letters on it. His hair was in disarray, he had two day old stubble on his face and there were many empty coffee mugs scattered about his desk as he muttered under his breath.

"Rrrraaaayyyyyppp-! NO! that's sick!...and there wasn't a 'B'. Pppprrrrrriiiiiiyyyyyyaa? No! Once again, no 'B'" Ozpin growled, as he tried sounding out words. This was the hardest part of his job. Stupid Academy Charter! May you burn in the eternal pits of Hell! He'd been staring at this particular one for nearly five hours now, and had yet to come up with a satisfactory team name.

"Pyro? No that makes them sound like a bunch of criminals. Bbbbuuuurrrrrnnnn? 'Y' looks like a 'U' doesn't it?" He asked the air around him. "Sure! Close enough! Why not?! Team Burn!"

Ozpin sagged in his chair. Just one more team to name and he was done for another year. He took out a fresh sheet of paper and wrote down eight letters. WS, JA, LR, and NV.

"Okay Ozzy! You can do this! You're Beacon's Headmaster for a reason, and this is it!" He stared down at the letters hoping a word would form. "Warn? No, that's lame. Savior? No, that's way too arrogant and gaudy. Uhhh, 'J' kinda looks like an 'I', so Winner? No! That's even _more_ arrogant and gaudy! UGH!" And so Ozpin languished at his desk for another two hours before he saw it.

"Luna! Oh my god! If I make the 'W' a 'U' I can spell Luna! Yes! I did it! Screw you Charter! Screw you all night long with a rusty spoon!" Ozpin shot to his feet and did a small victory dance, just as Glynda entered his office.

"Glynda! I did it! I named all of the new teams this year!" Goodwitch stared at him for a few moments, taking in his disheveled appearance before she turned her attention to the coffee stained list of final names.

"There's no 'Y' in Burn Professor Ozpin."

"Shut up! It's close enough. It's basically a 'U' with really sharp edges and a long stem!"

"There's also no 'W' in Luna."

Ozpin chucked a nearby crumpled up ball of paper at her, which bounced harmlessly off her head.

"'Double you' has 'you' in it, so close enough! Besides I'm already breaking the rules with these names. I'm only supposed to use their first name initials, but I'm using both first and last names, and the team leaders initial is supposed to always be first, but I couldn't come up with satisfactory names like that! Stupid charter! Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to bed. Good day Miss. Goodwitch, do not bother me unless you wish to have hot Professor sex." And then he walked out the door.

**Yea, that was pretty much me when I was trying to name the teams, minus the coffee and sexy professor.**

**Omake #3!**

Rise of the Valkyrie

"Really? He's deciding the rest of the teams based on what relics we picked? It doesn't make any sense! It's so inefficient!"

Professor Ozpin inwardly scowled. So this newbie wanted to question _his_ methods? The methods that have been in place since the Academy's inception?! Well fine, he _was_ going to make her team leader, but she could forget that now!

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Weiss Schnee, and Nora Valkyrie. The four of you have retrieved the white Rook pieces." Ozpin analyzed the students. Jaune was out, he was already in Weiss's pocket. Ren didn't have the ambition to be a team leader, so that left… "From this day forward, you will work together as Team Narwhal (NARW), led by," Professor Ozpin grinned darkly. "Nora Valkyrie." That'd teach that little girl not to question him!

Weiss looked shocked, Jaune looked shocked, Ren looked terrified, and Nora had the biggest, most psychotic grin he'd ever seen as she began to cackle. And he'd seen some freaky shit over the years. Goodwitch was staring at him like he'd lost his mind.

Hours later, when they'd retired to the teacher's lounge and ingested several bottles of booze, Professor Ozpin would ask: "Did I just make Miss Valkyrie a team leader?" All of the Professors around him nodded. "…Oh dear."

**Does it surprise anybody that this particular omake was responsible for a HUGE portion of my motivation in writing this chapter?**

**Anyways, that's all I've got for ya! Please review and tell me how I did. All feedback, constructive criticism and questions welcome and appreciated!**


	5. Classes Begin

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. I am writing this purely to see reader reaction and for fun. I make no financial profit doing this.

Chapter 5 – Classes Begin

Weiss stared nervously down at the ornate envelope in her hand. Her name and mailbox number were elegantly embossed on it in a bronze print. Within it were the grades and results of her Initiation. It was silly she knew, to be nervous at this point. She'd already been accepted to the Academy and she'd obviously passed the Initiation, she wouldn't be here otherwise, but these would be the real details of just how good of a Huntress in training she was. Not to mention the fact that this would amount to her first _real_ report card. Sure the tutors her father had hired for her gave them regular progress reports, but this was the first one to come from an institution.

With a deep breath she broke the wax seal and pulled out the contents. Now there was another problem. She couldn't open her eyes to look at it. Adelric let out an annoyed grunt and nudged her with his head.

"Okay okay! I can do this. It's just a piece of paper. No big deal." She slowly opened her eyes and caught her first glimpses of grading. As she read down the paper more and more anxiety bled out of her until she sagged into her chair with a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank god!"

_Initiation Performance Report – Weiss Schnee_

_Conduct and Attitude – Candidate displayed good ability to work with peers towards a goal and maintained professional behavior where appropriate. Mission and objective accomplished in adequate time. Aptitude as both leader and follower. – 100/100_

_Judgment – Candidate never got distracted from objective. Did not hesitate to follow partners more suited skills in given setting. Decision process for entering Death Stalker cave adequate. Decision to flee Death Stalker sound. Decision to join up with peers for safety, very good. Froze and escaped Death Stalker, preventing simultaneous combat with two highly lethal Grimm. Competitive, but did not hinder the mission. – 100/100_

_Combat – Candidate displayed good teamwork with partner, able to soundly defeat a full pack of Beowolves with no outside interference. Good communication with partner during encounter. Skill with Glyphs suggest high versatility. Candidate may be overly reliant on Dust during combat, further observation required. Situational awareness adequate. Ability to work with other teams good. Needs work on stamina and control, could have accomplished same results with fewer Glyphs and less energy spent. – 95/100_

_Spirit – Knows when to stand ground and when to escape. Beowolf pack would be impossible to escape, whereas Death Stalker too large to give proper chase through dense forestry. Kept adequate control of emotional condition, and displayed adequate determination and courage. – 100/100_

_Overall – Candidate has strong base and arsenal to work with, should do very well in Beacon. Expected that candidate can do very well as field operative or base personnel. – 395/400_

_Grade – A_

_Assigned Student Advisor – Professor Glynda Goodwitch_

_*Note* Student has been noted to have the same or similar Semblance as one of Beacon's Staff, Professor Glynda Goodwitch. Seek out for instruction if desired._

Weiss was more than a little bit annoyed with the missing five points, but her GPA was intact. Father wouldn't be seeing the exact score of any of her work here, just the overall grade, so she was safe.

"Good score Snow Angel?" Jaune called from his corner of the dorm room. Once they'd been assigned their room, right across the hall from Team BYRN happily enough, they'd divided it into four areas. There were two beds on either side of the room, with the foot of the beds pointed inwards and the head of the beds pressed against the walls.

Everyone had one corner of the room to do with what they will, including the walls separated by the door and window. If the window was North and the door South, Nora had the Northwest corner, Ren the Northeast, Jaune the Southeast, and Weiss the Southwest corner.

Adelric's rather plush doggy bed was in Weiss's corner, tucked next to her desk and bed, though half the time he would sneak up onto Weiss's bed sometime in the middle of the night. She'd given up trying to get him to stop, and besides, he was a good cuddler. Though he did sometimes make breathing more difficult when he crawled on top of her. Weiss had been thrilled when her teammates had consented to allow Adelric to stay in their quarters, otherwise he'd have had to stay in the schools kennels, kept by Professor John Clayton. He handled the courses dealing with Wilderness Survival and Animal Partnership.** (1)**

She hadn't had to worry about Jaune; he loved Adelric almost as much as she did. Nora was quite enthusiastic about the idea, and Ren hadn't cared much as long as Weiss made sure he didn't get anything too messy. Thank god none of them were allergic to dogs; that would have thrown a rather large wrench into the works.

"Yup, aced it. How'd you do?"

Jaune glanced back at his report, leaning back in his chair so it was tilted against his bed. He was currently wearing the male uniform, minus the jacket which was still on its hanger in his armoire dresser. Their first class, Grimm Studies with Professor Port, started at nine, so they still had a little bit over an hour to eat and arrive on time.

_Initiation Performance Report – Jaune Arc_

_Conduct and Attitude – Candidate displayed good ability to work with peers towards a goal and maintained professional behavior where appropriate. Mission and objective accomplished in adequate time. Aptitude as both leader and follower. – 100/100_

_Judgment – Candidate never got distracted from objective. Did not hesitate to correct partners error in navigation. Decision process to enter Death Stalker cave adequate. Decision to flee Death Stalker sound. Readily joined forces with peers. Did not hesitate to remind peers of shared objective. Engaged Death Stalker while Nevermore was unable to attack. – 100/100_

_Combat – Candidate displayed good teamwork with partner, able to defeat a full pack of Beowolves with no outside interference. Good communication with partner during encounter. Slew Alpha Beowolf in solo combat, no injuries sustained. Displays very high aptitude with defensive capabilities, as well as strong offensive capability. Works well with peers in combat situations. Aura levels exceedingly high for a new student, will likely need extra attention for proper control and use. – 100/100_

_Spirit – Knows when to stand ground and when to escape. Beowolf pack would be impossible to escape, whereas Death Stalker too large to properly give chase through dense forestry. Was the first to engage Death Stalker when pursued. Kept adequate control of emotional condition and displayed adequate bravery and determination. – 100/100_

_Overall – Candidate has strong skill and mind set, should do very well in Beacon. Expected that candidate best suited to field and defensive operations. – 400/400_

_Grade – A_

_Assigned Student Advisor – Professor Peter Port_

"One hundred percent." Jaune proudly announced to her.

Weiss smiled at him, happy for her friend. She wasn't surprised really. Their scores couldn't be too different since the two of them had worked so closely together, sharing the decision making, and he was always the more physically capable between the two of them. He was the brawn, she was the brains…usually.

"That's so cool Jaune!" Nora zipped over to him, nearly startling him out of his chair. "Not even Ren got a hundred percent! And they said that I was too unprofessional! Pshh, as if!" Nora blew a raspberry in the air, though she didn't seem at all concerned with her less than perfect score. "So that means that you're like the best member of the team! Why didn't they make you leader?" At the mention of his name, Ren stirred a little from where he was slouched in his chair, eyes drooping, but said nothing. He was _not_ a morning person. If it wasn't for Nora he'd still be sleeping. Honestly, _who_ gets up more than an hour before morning classes if they could help it? Morning people like his oldest and dearest friend, that's who. Personally, Weiss agreed with him, but her upbringing demanded that she be up bright and early when she had lessons to tend to.

"Oh that's easy, Weiss is much better at organization, planning and administration stuff than me." She'd been groomed her whole life to take over a global company after all. A team of four people should be a simple matter for her.

"Don't sell yourself short Jaune. I'll be relying on your input during fights. I can make plans and strategies before hand, but I can't react as well as you to the flow of a battle." She'd probably end up deferring to Jaune's leadership if and when they had to fight. "But anyways, who's up for breakfast?" Weiss stood, smoothing out some imaginary wrinkles in her uniform.

"Ooh! Me!" Nora darted to the door, hopping in place with a bright grin. "C'mon Ren! Those pancakes aren't gonna eat themselves!"

Ren groaned, but forced himself up. Despite his grogginess, he managed to maintain perfect posture as he joined his team, discretely patting himself to make sure he was actually dressed. "I'm coming, I'm coming." He mumbled.

"Don't forget your book bag!" Nora zipped past him, grabbed his bag from his bed and zipped back, tossing it over his shoulder for him, nearly making him fall over at the sudden increase in weight.

Ren stared at her for a moment. "You put your books in my bag didn't you?"

"…Maybe."

* * *

I'll meet you at the cafeteria, I just have to drop Adel off at the Animal Center." Animal companions were allowed in many places, even some of the classes, but the cafeteria was off limits to them.

"Alright, don't take too long." Jaune and Nora waved her off, continuing towards breakfast.

A few minutes later Weiss reached the grounds designated for animal housing, where there were dozens of animals, likely companions to other students, wandering around, playing, or whatever took their current fancy. There were the more mundane animals, like dogs, and birds, and more exotic creatures like tigers, bears, and gorillas all within the massive enclosure, and there were multiple men and women scattered about, tending to them and making sure they didn't get too rowdy. The perimeter was marked by a large stone fence that served to keep the animals from entering the rest of the campus.

A very tall, thin, man, probably just a little under six and a half feet tall, stood at the gate. He wore brown grass stained trousers, a white shirt that had the sleeves torn off, leaving his lanky arms exposed, long brown hair, an olive green bandana around his forehead, and sandals. Tied at his waist, he had a bullwhip, and a pair of ice picks in a holster at the small of his back.

"Good morning cadet!" He greeted her cheerfully. "I haven't seen you around before, so you must be a freshman. Here to drop off your partner?" He glanced at Adelric. Clayton made it a point to be the one to handle the animal check ins for the first week or so of every year so he could meet all the new Hunters and their companions.

"Yes, that's right. I'm Weiss Schnee, and this is Adelric." She stroked his head as he barked in greeting, tail wagging.

"Wonderful! I'm Professor John Clayton. I oversee the classes regarding wilderness survival and animal partners, as well as the Animal Center." He knelt down to look Adelric in the eyes. "You've trained him well. I can already tell that he's a strong, intelligent and loyal friend." Adelric barked and puffed up a little. "Though maybe a little immodest." He said in amusement.

"You received the notes for taking care of him right?" Weiss knelt down next to her dog, petting him in worry. It wasn't often that she left Adelric in the care of someone else, and she could honestly say that she didn't much care for it.

Clayton looked fondly exasperated. "Yes Ms. Schnee, we got the notes regarding Adelric's care. We'll take very good care of him, I promise you." Nearly every first year had a tough time leaving their partners in the Animal Center the first few times.

"Okay, good." Weiss paused hesitantly, still petting Adelric. "Uh, maybe I should stay for a bit, just to make sure he gets settled."

"In my experience, its best to just let them explore their new setting on their own. Let Adelric get used to things without you hovering around him like a worried mother."

"I don't hover!" Weiss noticed that she had yet to release her dog and quickly rose to her feet. "Adelric is completely capable of getting by without me there to keep an eye on him. So, I leave him in your care. Be a good boy Adelric, and make sure to listen to Professor Clayton and his assistants." She nudged Adelric towards the enclosure who took the hint to enter. The gate closed behind him as Clayton tapped a few buttons on his scroll, logging his entry.

Weiss turned and began walking away, chin held high, and determined not to look back and show how much it was tearing her up to leave her dog behind. She managed three steps before she heard him barking, and made the mistake of looking back at him. He'd jumped up, placing his front paws on the fence so he could look over it at her and was barking and whining in a distinctly distressed manner, ears drooping. And her heart shattered. Just as she was turning to run back over to him, another student had grabbed her by the shoulders and was pushing her away back towards the cafeteria.

"Trust me on this, it may be hard now, but you'll get used to it. He'll be perfectly fine without you for a few hours." The student was a girl a few years older than Weiss, with slightly tan skin, freckles spread across her cheeks and nose, and brown hair kept in a pair of braids that lay across her chest and wore the Academy's uniform and a knowing, sympathetic look on her face.

"But just listen to him, he needs me!" Adelric's whimpers echoed in her ears even as they turned into another hallway, losing sight of the Animal Center.

"I know, it's difficult. I went through the exact same thing the first time I left my partner there. Unfortunately, this is unavoidable. He can't come with you everywhere. And you can come pick him up as soon as your classes for the day are over."

Weiss sagged a little in resignation.

The pair walked in silence for a minute before the older girl spoke up again. "So, I'm Dorothy Gale, third year student and leader of team Scald (SCLD)."

Weiss's upbringing kicked in. "Weiss Schnee, first year and leader of team Luna. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." The pair reached the cafeteria. "I'll see you around Weiss, take care! Don't worry too much about your dog, Professor Clayton is a genius in animal care." The girl walked off, probably to get her own food, as Weiss said bye.

Weiss grabbed her own food, settling on a ham, bacon, and cheese omelet and a glass of orange juice. Surveying the room, it didn't take long to find her team, and she settled in next to Jaune and across from Ren.

"Uhh, everything okay Weiss?" Jaune asked her concernedly. To most she would seem fine, but to Jaune who'd known her since they were twelve she was clearly upset.

"…He looked so sad when I left him there." She pushed her food around on her plate, taking occasional bites. "I don't know how I'm supposed to focus in class now."

"Oh, you just need something to distract you from it. I'm sure once we get into things you'll be fine." Jaune took a bite of his sandwich. "Well, I've been talking with our new friends here, and apparently they've known each other even longer than we have."

"Since Kindergarten!" Nora exclaimed around the pancake hanging from her mouth, dripping with syrup.

Weiss winced as syrup splattered around; thankfully none of it reached her or her food.

"Nora, what have I told you about talking with food hanging out of your mouth?"

Her head turned to face him, splattering more syrup. "Not to?" She slurped the pancake up, somehow managing to inhale it without choking.

Ren quickly wiped up the splatter before it could settle and stain his blazer. "And what did you just do?"

"Talk with food hanging out of my mouth." Nora sagged a little in reprimand, eyes becoming wide and starting to water. "Sorry Ren." Ren nodded at their teammates and Nora turned her pitiful look to Jaune and Weiss.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me!" She bit her lip, looking every bit like the child about to burst into tears.

"It's alright, no harm done! Right Weiss?" Jaune hurriedly said, alarmed by her expression.

"Yea, just don't do it again." Weiss said before continuing silently. _"And stop looking at me like that!"_

And just as suddenly as it had appeared, Nora's sadness was gone, easily replaced by her normal cheer. It made Weiss more than a little suspicious that it was an act, and if it was then Nora was definitely someone to watch out for. If she could weaponize that ability then she'd be nigh unstoppable. Although Ren seemed rather resistant to it, probably immunization due to prolonged exposure.

During the next half hour, Team Luna got to know each other better. Ren and Nora hailed from the Kingdom of Vacuo, located on the Eastern most continent, and their dynamics were similar to Weiss and Jaune. Ren was the detail oriented, perfect student that helped his friend maintain their education, with a fighting style relying on speed, precision and adaptability, and Nora was the powerhouse, as comfortable in a fight as she was at home and was one of the most loyal, reliable and protective people around.

The more they got know each other, the more Weiss was coming to the conclusion that they were likely the strongest team amongst the first years, though perhaps only due to the compatibility they already had. They had the advantage of having two pairs who already knew very well how to work and fight together, whereas most teams would be meeting each other for the first time.

* * *

Team Luna made it to their class with plenty of spare time, managing to snag seats at the front to Weiss and Ren's delight. Their first class was Grimm Studies with Professor Peter Port, a man famous for his many adventures, slaying and capturing Grimm all over the world until his retirement from active duty six years ago at the age of fifty. He was a heavyset man, with curly grey hair, bushy eyebrows and a very large mustache, and he wore a crisp burgundy suit with gold trimming and buttons.

Moments before class started, the doors banged open as Team BYRN stumbled into the room, looking like they'd just run halfway across campus, which they probably had. The cacophony easily drew the stares of the entire class as the girls somewhat sheepishly made their way to four empty seats. Fortunately for them Professor Port didn't seem to mind as he jumped straight into his lecture, clapping to get everyone's attention.

"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names. But I simply refer to them as _prey_." He gestured widely, as if telling a grand story, laughing cheerily at his own confidence. "And you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy. I am Professor Peter Port, and welcome to Grimm Studies." He began pacing before them slowly. "In this class you will learn the methods best suited to combating the creatures of Grimm and how to identify their weaknesses. You should all pay close attention, as the information taught in this course will be vital to your survival as Huntsmen and Huntresses. Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely _teeming _with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in, those who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves from the threat that is the Grimm, even the very world itself!" He raised a hand in the air, fist clenched passionately. "That is what you are training to become. But first, a story, a tale of a young, handsome, man. Me!"

Weiss smiled lightly in amusement as she diligently took notes, picking out bits of strategy and tactics from Professor Port's embellishments. Honestly, all of this reminded her of Jaune's father and Master Scorpius telling her and Jaune stories of their own Grimm encounters. It made her feel like they should be sitting in front of a fire with mugs of hot cocoa.

"The horde of boarbatusk, charged at me relentlessly, unaware of the trap I had prepared for them. With a mighty leap, I reached my planned position, and turned with my axe held high and roaring my own challenge at them! Just as I had planned, the beasts charged even faster than before, tearing through the underbrush and trees. The ground itself quaked under the power of their hooves, but little did they know, they charged straight to their doom! The monsters were nearly upon me when my trap sprung. The ground beneath them caved in, sending them all plummeting _twenty feet_, and skewering them upon the wooden stakes at the bottom! There were so many bodies that I could nearly walk over the pit atop their backs. With the hoard of boarbatusk slain, the way to the beowolf den was clear." Professor Port had a flair for the theatrical, that was for sure.

On either side of her Jaune was taking his own notes, while Nora seemed utterly entranced by the story as she sat in wide eyed interest. Ren was on Nora's other side, taking quick notes of his own.

"In the end, the beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village, the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!" He took a quick bow. "The moral of the story? A true Huntsman must be honorable. A true Huntsman must be dependable. A true Huntsman must be strategic, well educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?" He gazed at his class expectantly as he pulled a tarp off of a large cage.

Weiss waited a moment to see if anyone else would volunteer before mentally shrugging. As she raised her hand, just as Jaune did the same. "I do sir!"

"Oho! Good enthusiasm!" He shook his fist lightly in front of him in approval. "Unfortunately, only one of you may show your mettle at the moment. Miss Schnee, you were slightly quicker than Mr. Arc to volunteer, please go and equip yourself for battle and return to the classroom to face your opponent!" He waved a hand at the shaking cage.

* * *

Weiss quickly changed into her battle gear, and found herself in front of the class in fifteen minutes, Myrtenaster drawn and held at the ready.

"Alright! Let the match begin!" Professor Port swung his Axe/Blunderbuss hybrid at the cage's lock, easily cleaving through it. The front side of the cage fell to the floor, revealing an adult boarbatusk that quickly charged straight at Weiss.

Weiss held in a derisive snort, and with a few practiced motions summoned a blue glyph in front of her. The bovine's charge was brought to an abrupt halt as it collided with the protective shield. Another swift hand movement from Weiss and the glyph tilted back while moving forward and up, picking the Grimm's front half up and exposing its belly as Weiss casually walked forward and skewered its heart from its unarmored underside. It gave a wild squeal, and thrashed a little, but its struggles quickly faded to nothing.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Professor Port swung a fist approvingly. "It appears we are in the presence of a true Huntress in training! But I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Nora wasted no time in zipping over to her, gushing over the fight. "That was so cool! It was all like 'Rawr, I'm gonna ram into you with my armored face!' And you were all like 'Nice try foolish beast, but I cast my spell of anti-ramming speed!' and then it was all like 'Oh no, not the spell of anti-ramming speed! That's all I've got! Curses!' and then you were all like 'Stab! You're dead, and that was hardly even worth my time plebeian monster.'" Nora gleefully narrated, making poses and motions for each line, acting out her rendition of the fight, complete with voices.

Weiss flipped her pony tail back over her shoulder nonchalantly. "While Jaune and I were being trained we were taken into the forests to get some actual experience against live Grimm in controlled settings. Boarbatusk's were some of the most common Grimm we dealt with. They have lots of armor and a strong charge, but if you take away their momentum and can get under them, then they aren't too difficult to deal with."

"Easy for you and your glyphs to say Snow Angel. Some of us don't have a semblance of unlimited versatility." Jaune said handing Weiss her book bag. When Jaune fought boarbatusk's he was forced to flip them through brute force. It wasn't quite that difficult once you get them stopped, but it certainly took him a lot more effort to do than Weiss had to exert. With her glyphs Weiss was basically limited only by her imagination, knowledge, and aura and dust reserves.

"What's your semblance Jaune?" Nora asked.

Jaune shrugged. "I dunno. I haven't discovered it yet." Semblances weren't exactly common, especially amongst academy students. A good deal of Hunters went their whole lives never attaining their semblances. "What about you?"

Nora gasped, covering her mouth scandalously. "I can't tell you that. It's my _special move_. My limit break, my overdrive! It's a _secret!_"

Jaune narrowed his eyes playfully. "I dunno." He said skeptically. "I bet you don't even _have_ your semblance yet."

Nora gasped in mock outrage. "I do so! And you'll be so sorry when you see it! You're gonna be all 'Wow, that Nora's got the coolest semblance ever and I'll never be able to come _close_ to the gloriousness that is her!'"

"She actually has found her semblance and it is rather powerful." Ren told them, brushing some stray dust from his bag.

"Reeeeeen! It's supposed to be a secret! Don't tell them!" She lunged at him, holding his mouth shut while pouting.

Ren reached up and tugged her hands away. "I wasn't going to. But that was an impressive fight. We'll have to swap Grimm battle tactics later."

"While I heartily approve teams bonding and getting to know one another better, you all should hurry up before you're late for your next class. Tardiness is unbecoming of a Hunter after all!" Professor Port told them, ushering them out.

"So what do we have next Weiss?" Jaune asked.

"Warfare and Society in Modern Times with Professor Oobleck. I'll meet you all there once I've gotten back into my uniform." Weiss said, annoyed that she had to change her clothes for the third time today, even though she'd only been awake for four hours so far.

* * *

**End Chapter!**

**(1) John Clayton – The real name of Tarzan. – Character inspired by Tarzan.**

**So, some of you may have noticed, but I've decided to start uploading my work to Deviantart, a link to my account can be found near the bottom of my profile page. Note that my account here (Serfius), and my account there (Tidelore) have different names, so don't be alarmed and start thinking it's being plagiarized.**

**Oh my god, it is SO annoying coming up with classes. I'm not a Professor or a Teacher! ARGH! Just one more time I wish the RWBY world was more fleshed out for us. **

**I don't normally do this, as I like to have my fics be as much my own creation as possible, but if anyone has ideas for classes (With basic course description), or better names for classes in my list below, **_**let me know through PM's**_** and I'll think about including them. If I do like any suggestion enough to use it, I'll make sure to give whoever suggested it credit! So, if anyone has ideas for the standard syllabus at Beacon, I'd appreciate you sharing them, cause I'd much rather not construct one by myself.**

**I also wouldn't particularly mind hearing about any original Grimm, cause the current bestiary is rather small, what with there being only six species listed. Again, **_**please send them through PM's**_**, as I want to keep things as secret from my readers as possible.**

**Classes I'm considering/using – Grimm Studies, Warfare and Society in Modern Times, Topics in Politics, International Politics, Dust and Aura Theory, Physical Training, Unarmed Combat, Combat Medicine, Chemistry, Animal Partnership, Wilderness Survival, Mathematics (Need individual course names), Engineering, Strategy and Tactics.**

**Please review and tell me how I did. All feedback, constructive criticism and questions welcome and ****appreciated!**


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